From Deacon Braun: On Humility
There’s a story about a successful businessman from London who decided to have a party. He invited 600 guests. On the evening of the party the guests were served a wonderful meal with fine wines.
After dinner the host welcomed his guests and announced that instead of dancing, he had chosen to invite one of England's premier Shakespearean actors to present excerpts from the writings of William Shakespeare. And with that, an actor stood up to thunderous applause and began to present passages from Shakespeare.
And after each presentation the audience erupted in applause. After 20 minutes, the actor asked if anybody had any special requests. A man requested the soliloquy for Macbeth. A woman requested the 14th Sonnet. Another woman requested the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. The actor presented each brilliantly and each time the place erupted in applause.
Then a man, a childhood friend of the host who happened to be a priest, said to the actor, “I know it's not Shakespeare, but could you present for us Psalm 23.. The actor said, "Father, when I was in fourth grade, we all learned Psalm 23 by heart. I would be happy to recite it. I just have one condition. I will recite the Psalm, if you will recite it when I am finished.” The priest agreed.
The actor then recited the psalm and when he finished the place erupted. People clapped and they cheered. Then actor said, "Father, it's your turn." The priest stood up, fidgeted with his napkin, and then in a firm, reflective voice he recited the psalm.
When the priest finished, nobody clapped. There was silence and a few tears. The priest felt a little awkward, but the actor stood and said, "For my whole life I've known the Psalm, but Father, he knows the shepherd."
In this weekend’s Gospel, the actor is like the Pharisees, who want to be “center of attention” and the priest, in his humble service to God, finds himself exalted. That is where true humility lies, when our actions and our everyday lives are rooted in God first, and not ourselves.
Jesus tells us, “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Jesus lived this truth. Jesus – the second Person of the Holy Trinity – “emptied himself, taking the form of a slave…” (Phil 2:7), he came not “to be served but to serve” (Mk 10:45).
Each of us should consider how we can imitate this humble servant-leadership that Jesus showed throughout his life.
My favorite reflection on humility is: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less.”
What does humility look like in our daily life? It might be doing those less desirable tasks that others would prefer to avoid. It might be doing something your spouse or family wants to do rather than insisting on your own way. It might mean allowing a friend to talk through their struggles without offering advice or telling them how they might have handled things differently. With the eyes of love and faith, each of us can find ways to practice the virtue of humility in our daily life.
Like the priest in the story above who revealed God to the crowd in his recitation of Psalm 23, we all have the opportunity to let God shine through in our life to others.
Deacon Michael Braun