Christ's Utter Lack of Selfishness

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich." ~2 Cor. 8:9

A few days ago, while praying the Rosary, I became completely dumbstruck at Jesus's total and complete lack of selfishness. There is nothing - and I mean, nothing - that our Lord holds back for Himself. I remember the twinge of jealousy I felt as a child when my mom turned her attention from me to a friend; and yet, Jesus freely entrusts His Mother to each member of His Church (John 19:26-27; Rev. 12:17). Even more momentous, the only begotten Son of the Father invites us into the intimacy of the Divine Family: "No one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him" (Matt. 11:27); "Go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father" (John 20:17). Our Lord won't even keep His own Flesh and Blood for Himself, but gives them to us as supernatural food and drink! 

Bask in the Lord Jesus's generosity. Be overwhelmed by His love for you.

Then turn to this truth that was at the center of Pope St. John Paul II's teaching: "Man, who is the only creature on earth which God willed for his own sake, cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of self" (Gaudium et Spes, No. 24). Jesus invites us to love as He loves. That is our call. That is the goal of our lives - to fully image the Son. No, to be empowered by the Son to bravely pour ourselves out, holding nothing in reserve. To say that is difficult is an understatement; constantly calling out for grace and cooperating with it is painful...but in it one finds the beauty of the Crucified. This is why we Catholics never tire of looking at the lives of God's saints - we see the victory of Christ's unselfish love in the lives of people just like ourselves, and it inspires us to let go of our security blankets and give ourselves away just a little bit more.

God can do it in us. He did it in the life of the young mother, Chiara Petrillo; and just this morning I discovered that He had done it in the life of another young mother right here in my own city of St. Louis. I invite you to read her story and keep her family in your prayers - pray both for their comforting and for God's continual grace that they be able to imitate her, as she imitated Christ (1 Cor. 11:1).

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." ~John 15:12

Today's Gospel, in a Photo

Pope Francis on Holy Thursday

But Jesus summoned them and said, 
"You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.
Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:25-28)

A blessed Feast of St. James the Apostle to you!

The Virtue of the Handmaid

Downton Abbey's Head Housemaid, Anna

"Handmaid" - the Blessed Mother used that word for herself when she responded to Gabriel, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word" (Lk 1:38).  

Handmaid - what does it mean?  The Greek word is doule - meaning servant, slave girl. That is how our Blessed Mother, who possessed more grace than all the saints and angels combined - understood herself.  And there was nothing derogatory about it.  

There is no shame in being a servant; it is part of reality. That same word (in its masculine form, doulos) is used in the Bible for Moses, Joshua, David, and Jesus!  That's right, God became man to make himself a servant, the Servant (Is 52:13-53:12).  Listen to our Lord:

• "If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all." (Mk 9:35)
• "Who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves." (Lk 22:27)
• "If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you." (Jn 13:14-15)

On Monday, I shared how inspired I have been by Gary Zimak's Listen to Your Blessed Mother.  Listen to how he brings all of this down to earth:

We view certain tasks and jobs as being “beneath us”.  On the other hand, Mary understood and embraced her role as God’s handmaid.  She made her proclamation without any qualifications whatsoever.  She was the Lord’s servant in all circumstances, not just the favorable ones.  The details didn’t really matter to her.  What was important was that she was willing to do anything that God asked of her.  That’s exactly what a good and faithful servant does.    

"Whoever humbles himself like this child"

Today's gospel has the familiar verse where the apostles argue over who is the greatest in the kingdom, and Jesus tells them that they need to become more childlike.  It's so familiar to me that I usually fly by it, "Oh yes, I need to be humble and childlike; I know that."  The Church does us a real favor in breaking off small morsels of the gospel for us to chew on each day; it forces us to mine each word of Jesus, again and again.  Allow me to give a quote from today's text, and I'll highlight what caught my eye today. 

Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."  

The question that came to my mind was, "What does it mean to humble yourself like this child?  How do children show humility?"  I have two kids, and I work with children daily, so I started to think about the way children interact and what it says about them.  I recalled how excited kids get when telling me about their heroes and their special talents.  They don't resent their heroes because of their abilities; they want to emulate them, copy them.  They have no problem telling you who is "the best" at something - whether the topic is sports or riding a two-wheeler .  When one of their friends answers correctly or scores a point, they cheer.  (Although I've also met a few who sulk.)  

Most of the time kids seem to lack self-consciousness when it comes to praising others; they don't feel bad saying that someone is better at something than they are. They take joy in the success, never minding that it isn't "theirs."  It's enough to aspire to reach that height; and besides that, it seems to be theirs simply by participation, by their love and admiration for the one succeeding.

That's how it's meant to be in the Body of Christ. "If one member of the body is honored, all rejoice together" (1 Cor.12:26).  And all members of the body are necessary and of value:  "the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indespensible ... that there may be no discord in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another" (1 Cor.12:22,26).  The only competition we should concern ourselves with is to "love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor" (Rom.12:10).

Just my thoughts.  I would like to hear yours.

Lessons in Humility from M.J.

No, not from Michael Jackson; I thought my deceptive ploys to grab your attention were common knowledge by now. This post is about the humility of Mary and Joseph (The M.J. in J.M.J.).

Following Saturday's show about approved Marian apparitions I received a call from a woman desperate for the bishops to acknowledge that she had received a message from God.  (30 seconds into the conversation, she had already conveyed enough side details to indicate why the bishops are unable to do so.  My heart went out to her though; please pray for her peace and that she is able to find good medical treatment.)  She was desperate to be acknowledged; for people to know that God had spoken to her.  The only advice I could give her was to put everything into God's hands and to be at peace.  If He wanted this private revelation known then He would open the doors for it to be known.

She came back to me this morning while praying the Joyful Mysteries, and it brought Mary's humility into stark relief.  Mary had received the greatest revelation in all of human history; she was going to be the mother of the Messiah.  Gabriel referred to her by a title, "Full of Grace;" she stood head and shoulders above the rest of humanity.  

But notice how God communicated His will to Mary over those next few years - through Joseph.   God sent his angel to Joseph, and Joseph appraised Mary of their need to flee to Egypt, as well as their eventual need to return to Nazareth.  Now it was probably very evident to Mary and Joseph who had the brains in the family; preserved from original sin, Mary's mind undoubtedly processed information and arrived at conclusions much more quickly than Joseph's.  Joseph had to marvel at the pearls of wisdom that fell from Mary's lips and be in awe of the acts of love that flowed from her.  Even though Mary's holiness and intelligence surpassed Joseph's, God had still entrusted her to his care.  Mary recognized that the superabundant graces God poured out upon her did not excuse her from following the order he had established within the Holy Family.  And to Mary's praise, she was completely at peace with it!  Now that's humility, and there is peace in humility.

Many times we may feel like God has given us some great task to carry out in the Church, but the doors don't seem to open.  Perhaps our parish priests, diocesan officials, or even the bishop do not seem to have much interest in the plans we share.  God wants us to practice humility and place ourselves in His hands.  If this work is of God, then the doors will eventually open; and if the work is not of God, it is better they stay closed.  In any case, it is an opportunity to grow in humility, to submit ourselves to the order God has established for His Family on earth.  That's where the peace is.  (I know, it's hard to practice; growing up isn't easy.)  Look to Mary; she's a model worth imitating!

 

"Wedding" Etiquitte

I just read today's Gospel and was especially struck at the context Jesus chose for recommending humility: "When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet . . . go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say, 'My friend, move up to a higher position.' Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted." 


I have spent the past two weeks (and plan on spending the next two) gearing up to give a morning of talks (Nov.12), a "guided tour" if you will, of the Book of Revelation.  And our arrival at a wedding banquet is the goal of Revelation!  We already participate in the banquet at Mass, "This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  Happy are those who are called to His supper" (Rev.19:9).  Jesus' words in the Gospel address how we should relate to one another within the Church!  It is not a venue for trying to win esteem or propping up our egos; woe be to us, if we ever catch ourselves feeling superior to someone in the congregation.  Each of us is loved by our Father, each of us living temples of the Holy Spirit - what higher "status" is possible?  So however many hours we pray, studies on Revelation we lead, or Sunday morning donut socials we organize; we are all infinitely loved children with nothing to prove to one another, save our ability to look past our needy selves and appreciate the beautiful people who surround us.

"We're Not Worthy!"

That line was going through my head last night. I haven't posted a blog in quite awhile - getting that book out to the public has taken a lot of time, on top of just being a dad. This past weekend was a good one for the book though. A positive review on Catholic Exchange sold some paperback copies as well as generated emails requesting PDFs in places as far away as Perth, Australia, and Lisbon, Portugal! I was happy, but much to my surprise, a bit scared too. It hit me: "Who am I to speak about Jesus? I have so far to go in being a worthy representative. What if someone who reads the book meets me down the line and thinks, 'Him - he wrote this?'"
All I can really say is: Lord, I really want this book to be a tool in Your Hands, a help in opening others' eyes to all that You have for them. Just please don't let me be a stumbling block on anyone's road to You.