Tag: humility

“If anyone wishes to be first . . .” | Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Ordinary Time

From the Gospel acclamation: “May I never boast except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 9:30-37)

For they had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest. Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” Taking a child, he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it, he said to them, “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.”

As Jesus and the disciples begin a journey through Galilee, Jesus reveals to them that he will be handed over to his enemies, killed, and will rise again after three days. The disciples don’t understand Jesus’ words and begin to focus on their own role and status as disciples. Aware of this and in contrast to it, Jesus teaches them through the example of a child who is present. Children at that time held low social status. Turning a social convention such as this on its head, Jesus emphasizes the place of service, humility, and simplicity over ambitions for personal self-gain. Sounding very much like the recent Gospel readings from John, Jesus says, “Whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.” Mark conveys the importance of remaining in Christ with the Father in the exchange of love between them in the Holy Spirit.

God, help me see today the good gifts you place in my midst. In looking out for your gifts, give me the opportunity to put my own interests aside and serve others in the name of Christ. Jesus told the disciples of his coming passion, death, and resurrection, and they failed to comprehend that this would happen to the Messiah, whose transfiguration they witnessed on Mount Tabor. If Christ your Son humbles himself in this way, what is it you ask of me? Let me remember the profound teaching of St. James from the first reading in these few simple words: “Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Tuesday in the Octave of Easter

From the responsorial psalm: “Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and our shield. May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us who have put our hope in you. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 20:11-18)

Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

As Mary stays outside the tomb, weeping for the loss of the Lord, two angels sit inside the tomb, one at the head and one at the feet of where Jesus had been. They ask Mary why she is weeping. “They have taken my Lord,” she tells them, “and I don’t know where they laid him.” Immediately, she turns to see Jesus there but doesn’t recognize him, thinking instead she is speaking with the gardener. Only when Jesus says her name does she know him. Instructing her to stop holding on to him, Jesus helps prepare Mary for the end of his earthly ministry and for his ascension and coming of the Holy Spirit, instructing her to go to announce to the disciples his resurrection and imminent return to the Father, our Father. What Jesus announces to Mary we joyfully proclaim: his Father is our Father his God is our God.

God, help me take in during Easter as much as limited human understanding allows. I can’t know what it was like for Mary, who experienced overwhelming grief at his loss and then to have that grief transformed into unbounded joy. Yet, in his resurrection, Jesus becomes recognizable according to your will in the bread and wine that becomes his body and blood—”the life of the world to come”—at the celebration of every Mass. Give me the grace to realize what gift I have in the Eucharist and make me a means of proclaiming in my words and actions the joy of the resurrection.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Monday in the Octave of Easter

From the responsorial psalm: “Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge; I say to the LORD, “My Lord are you.” O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup, you it is who hold fast my lot. Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 28:8-15)

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce the news to his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

Hurrying away from the tomb and experiencing fear and great joy, the two women run to tell the disciples what they have seen. On their way, Jesus meets them, and the women worship him as he tells them not to be afraid. Jesus then instructs the women to tell his disciples to go to Galilee, where they will see him. As this happens, some of the guards who were at the tomb go into the city and report to the chief priests what has happened, and the chief priests make plans to tell a lie: that the disciples stole Jesus’ body while the guards were sleeping. In Jesus’ first words to the women, we find an example of strength in professing the Gospel: “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers.”

God, as the day progresses and its trials crop up, help me remember the first words of Jesus to the women after his resurrection. “Do not be afraid.” Help me choose to face trials, not overcome with uncertainty and apprehension, but with the omnipotence of the Risen Christ, who lives within me in his words and through the sacraments. Filled with a sense of urgency, the women did as Jesus asked them to do: “Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” Give me the grace, Lord, to go out in the midst of the day to find Christ present, eager to grant me the peace only he can give.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Easter Sunday | The Resurrection of the Lord

From the sequence before the Gospel: “Christ indeed from death is risen, our new life obtaining. Have mercy, victor King, ever reigning! Amen. Alleluia.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 20:1-9)

On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.

As the disciples race to the tomb, John sprints ahead and looks inside, seeing the burial cloths but hesitates to enter. Peter arrives, enters the tomb, and sees immediately that the cloths are arranged carefully, unlike how they would appear if the body were stolen. As John follows Peter in, they both see and believe. And John tells us, “For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.” What they find in the empty tomb is part of an answer to Mary’s troubled declaration, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” Their minds still reeling, Mary and the other disciples don’t know what to make of what they have witnessed. It isn’t until later, as Jesus appears to them, that they come to know the unbounded joy of Christ’s paschal mystery that we celebrate at the Easter Mass: “Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia!”

God, help me make sense of the unfolding moments of that first Easter morning. I feel between spiritual worlds—more in spirit with Mary and her puzzlement than with the Spirit-confirmed faith of the apostles at Pentecost. “And we don’t know where they put him.” Something in that makes me want to linger, contemplating the mystery of Christ’s presence even in his absence. It’s the same mystery of the bread and wine made into his body and blood. Absent in appearance but truly, actually present. Lord, give me the grace to receive the Eucharist with reverential awe. The risen Christ, victor over sin and death, is freed from the tomb and shows us the path to eternal life. Thanks be to God, alleluia, alleluia.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Holy Saturday, Easter Vigil

From the responsorial psalm: “The right hand of the LORD has struck with power; the right hand of the LORD is exalted. I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mark 16:1-7)

On entering the tomb they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a white robe, and they were utterly amazed. He said to them, “Do not be amazed! You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Behold the place where they laid him. But go and tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you.’”

After the sabbath, early on Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome go to the tomb of Jesus to anoint him. As they approach the tomb, they question among themselves how they will remove the stone. When they look up, they see that it has been rolled away. A young man sits at the right side of the tomb who tells them Jesus has been raised, and he sends them with a message, mentioning Peter by name and the disciples. Jesus would meet them in Galilee, as he told them. In the resurrection, saving us from sin and death, Jesus goes ahead of us. And God always keeps his promises. In the Easter vigil Mass, the triumph of light over darkness appears in the risen Christ, the Light of the World.

God, help me fully embrace the passion, death, and resurrection of your Son in understanding it as much as your grace allows so that I can partake in the full Easter joy of receiving the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist. By taking him in, I take in his victory over sin and death and am strengthened through him in the hope of the resurrection, which he made possible for all who believe in him. Grant me the grace, Lord, to participate in the mystery of Christ’s resurrection and know the joy it offers for me and for the whole world. Have mercy on us, Lord, and on the whole world. “By the LORD has this been done; it is wonderful in our eyes.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion

From the responsorial psalm: “Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your kindness. Take courage and be stouthearted, all you who hope in the LORD. Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 18:1—19:42)

After this, aware that everything was now finished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I thirst.” There was a vessel filled with common wine. So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth. When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.” And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.

Until the moment of his death, Jesus was aware that he was accomplishing his Father’s will. Throughout the days leading up to his passion and through all its brutality, he never lost sight of it and in the last moment knew when he had fulfilled all he was sent to fulfill. What was it Jesus thirsted for? To be sure, as a man, he thirsted as a man thirsts; as Immanuel, he thirsted not for any created thing but for the salvation of all. In saying “It is finished,” the Son announces to the Father in that moment the finality of life but also the beginning of the end of sin and death in his glorious resurrection to come. Jesus’ death on the cross is not an end but for all who believe in him the full flowering of the hope of the resurrection.

God, in contemplating the death of your Only Begotten Son on the cross, I strive to see the profound depth and breadth of its effects, for the sake of the whole world and for my own sake. Help me weigh the small sacrifices I make today against the weight of your crucifixion. There is no comparison, and it could be that all I can do today is stand in wonder of that. Give me the grace to know more deeply the meaning of the crucifixion; teach me through obedience to your will the meaning of suffering as a means of sanctification. A sinner, I am inclined to want to look away from the crucifixion and what it draws me to—Christ your Son—but I can’t look away. Help me understand who it is I behold and what it means.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Holy Thursday

From the responsorial psalm: “How shall I make a return to the LORD for all the good he has done for me? The cup of salvation I will take up, and I will call upon the name of the LORD. Our blessing-cup is a communion with the Blood of Christ.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 13:1-15)

So when he had washed their feet and put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, “Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”

Before the feast of Passover in the Upper Room, Jesus begins to wash his disciples’ feet. As he comes to Simon Peter, he asks what Jesus is doing and says to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus then replies, “Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.” Peter says, “Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well.” At first failing to understand why Jesus would want to wash his feet, Peter accepts wholeheartedly what Jesus offers to do. The lowly, menial task of washing feet is an example to the disciples of humility and selflessness. In this example of sacrificial love and service, Peter accepts what Jesus does for the sake of his own salvation. “What I am doing,” Jesus tells Peter, “you do not understand now, but you will understand later.” Peter, the first servant of the servants, would come to understand service and sacrificial love as our first pope.

God, help me understand what greatness is—not conventional greatness, not greatness as the world sees it, but greatness in going all out to be the least important person in the room. “Human greatness has always had sadness for a companion,” said exorcist Fr. Gabriele Amorth. Jesus assured Peter that only his feet need be cleaned to receive the self-gift of Jesus’ humility. In seeking human greatness, I’ve demonstrated time after time that I stumble and fall. Raise me up to true greatness, Lord, in learning the virtue of humility and loving service to others. “I give you a new commandment, says the Lord: love one another as I have loved you.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“If someone should rise from the dead.” | Thursday of the Second Week of Lent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 16:19-31)

And [the rich man] cried out, “Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.” Abraham replied, “My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented.”

In this parable directed to the Pharisees, Jesus paints a stark contrast between the lives of two men: a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus. Lazarus, covered in sores, longs for the scraps discarded by the rich man. But after their deaths, their fates dramatically reverse. The rich man ends up in the netherworld, a place of torment, while Lazarus is carried by angels to the bosom of Abraham and exists in comfort and peace. The rich man, in his torment, sees Lazarus in the distance and calls out to Abraham for mercy, but Abraham explains that a great chasm separates them, making it impossible for Lazarus to help him. Abraham affirms that if the brothers of the rich man do not listen to the teachings already available to them—just as some who witnessed Christ’s resurrection are not persuaded—even a miraculous sign would not convince them. The reversal of fortune that the rich man experiences is a reminder that however great earthly wealth and status become, they count for nothing in one’s eternal destiny.

God, just as Lazarus lay at the door of the rich man unnoticed, opportunities large and small lie at my feet day after day, placed there by you, which I can choose to see or not see. The poverty that Lazarus experienced, though punishing to the body and to spirit, was nothing like the absolute state of destitution that the rich man experienced after death. Lord, give me the grace today—and whenever you present the opportunity to me—to recognize in the moment the need for compassion, justice, and attentiveness to your teachings. Teach me your mercy, Lord!

From the responsorial psalm: “Blessed are they who hope in the Lord. He is like a tree planted near running water, that yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade. Whatever he does, prospers.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“You do not know what you are asking.” | Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 20:17-28)

Jesus said in reply, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?” They said to him, “We can.” He replied, “My chalice you will indeed drink, but to sit at my right and at my left, this is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

Jesus tells the disciples about his coming passion, death, and resurrection. The mother of James and John approaches Jesus and asks him, “Command that these two sons of mine sit, one at your right and the other at your left, in your kingdom.” It is as if there is a misunderstanding between what she asks Jesus and what Jesus has just told the disciples. To drink the chalice that Jesus drinks and to sit at his right hand means to take on his suffering and participate in his passion. Greatness of that kind is not what a mother would ask for her sons, yet it is the same servanthood that Christ calls them to—a dying to oneself. “Just so,” Jesus says to the disciples, “the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

God, you know me better than I know myself. Give me the wisdom to know when I am in the midst of making worldly ambition—or even undue control over the course of the next hour—an end in itself. Help me discern whether my aims are selfish or whether my sole aim is to know and act on your will. Jesus speaks of greatness, what it looks like through your eyes: “whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant.” Give me clarity of mind today to stop and notice when you place in front of me an opportunity to practice humble service and selfless love. Help me see as you see.

From the responsorial psalm: “You will free me from the snare they set for me, for you are my refuge. Into your hands I commend my spirit; you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God. Save me, O Lord, in your kindness.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“The greatest among you must be your servant.” | Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 23:1-12)

Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, “As for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi.’ You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers. Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven. Do not be called ‘Master’; you have but one master, the Christ. The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

Jesus presents to those who hear him a path that gives what is due to religious leaders of his time, the scribes and Pharisees. Yet, he instructs those listening not to follow their example of burdening others through their authority or showing off for the sake of honor, to be noticed. “Do not follow their example,” Jesus says, “for they preach but they do not practice.” Instead, he invites us to turn our understanding of authority upside down and follow his example of leading by serving. “You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers.” In calling us to imitate him in humble service, Jesus opens up the way to perfect humility by putting the needs of others before our own and seeking to serve rather than be served.

God, help me practice my faith by doing what pleases you rather than what looks good in the eyes of others. It’s easy to point out the self-exaltation of others and the attention they seek. But when I turn to myself, what do I find through genuine self-examination? Give me the grace, God, to praise and give you glory by practicing what Jesus teaches. In seeking to do your will through humility and service, I have through Jesus the invitation to be the greatest among others by humbling myself for the sake of your glory.

From the responsorial psalm: “Help us, O God our savior, because of the glory of your name; deliver us and pardon our sins for your name’s sake. Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.