Copyright © 2001 Catholic Doors Ministry http://www.catholicdoors.com/homilies/

"All who humble themselves will be exalted." [Lk. 18:14] These words echo the Words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew where it is said, "Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven." [Mt. 18:4] Why is the humble person the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven? It is because "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." [Jas. 4:6; Prov. 3:34] Therefore, "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you." [Jas. 4:10]

Today's First Reading from the Book of Sirach [Sir. 35:15-17, 20- 22] served the purpose of drawing our confidence in the Lord so we may rely upon Him in all our undertakings. The reading began by stating that, "The Lord is the judge, and within him there is no partiality." [Sir. 35:15] On the subject of partiality, the Letter of James says, "Have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?" [Jas. 2:4] "But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy." [Jas 3:17]

Continuing with the Book of Sirach, the Lord "will not show partiality to the poor but he will listen to the prayer of one who is wronged. The Lord will not ignore the supplication of the orphan, or the widow when she pours out her complaint. [Sir. 35:16- 7] These words tell us that the ear of the Lord is inclined towards the needy, the poor, the orphans, the widows, those who have been abandoned in the hospitals, the senior lodges and even those who are incarcerated.

The prayers of the faithful are pleasing to the Lord; they are heard before His Heavenly Throne. But the prayers of the humble touch the Lord; they pierce His Sacred Heart until the Most High responds by executing judgment to bring justice to the righteous. "Indeed, the Lord will not delay." [Sir. 35:22]

When speaking of humility, it is important to understand the proper meaning of this word. Genuine humility is the middle ground between being arrogant and having a false humility. The humble Christian is aware of his defects. He is not proud, nor self- assertive. Through spiritual growth in Christ, he has lessened or destroyed the traces of pride that were staining his soul.

The factor that separates genuine humility from false humility is honesty. Let us take as an example what someone says to a teacher. "You do a good job." Now, if the teacher starts boasting about how good she is, this is pride. If the teacher denies being a good teacher when she is one, by undermining the truth, she is practicing a false-humility. If the teacher replied, "Thank you" or "I do my best" without drawing attention to the matter, her honesty reflects true humility.

In today's Second Reading from the Second Letter of Paul to Timothy, [2 Tim. 4:6-8, 16-18] we find examples of Paul's humility. When Paul said, "the time of my departure has come," [2 Tim. 4:6] he was stating a truth. His soon to come death was a departure from this life and a return to Christ. [Phil. 1:23] Through his words, he was not seeking pity, nor boasting of all what he had done in the Most Holy Name of Jesus.

St. Paul said, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." [2 Tim. 4:6] Comparing his life to that of a race, [1 Cor. 9:26; 2 Tim. 4:7] Paul was speaking the truth. His life was coming to an end and he had persevered and guarded the deposit of faith. [1 Tim. 6:14, 20]

Saint Paul never bragged that he was a better Christian than the others. He never bragged that he accomplished more than the others. For the work that he performed was not his work but rather the work of God that was manifested through him by the power of the Holy Spirit in the Most Holy Name of Jesus. While Paul did not brag, he did not deny the truth. When Paul spoke of sinners, he rightfully viewed himself as the worst of sinners [1 Tim. 1:15-6] because of the life that he had lived prior to knowing Jesus Christ. When he preached, he glorified the resurrected Christ... not himself.

Today's reading from the Gospel of Luke [Lk. 18:9-14] also spoke of humility. As you all heard in the Parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, the Pharisee judged himself as righteous, viewing others in contempt. That is because in those days, the Pharisees were viewed as being completely "just" before the Law. Therefore, they had great confidence in themselves.

So here we have two persons who are gathered to pray, either at 9:00 A.M. or at 3:00 P.M., these being the hours of prayer. The Pharisee stands before God, all proud of himself, thanking God that he is not like the rest of the people. He bragged about how he fulfills his commitment to God and the Temple by fasting and giving a tenth of his income. In those days, the Pharisees abstained from food and water every Monday and Thursday.

At a distance, the tax collector prayed to God, asking for His mercy because he is a sinner. Ashamed of his life, he would not even look up towards heaven. He only beat his breast, such being symbolic of saying, "Mea Culpa." The words of the tax collector echoed the words that are found in Psalm 51, "For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me." [Ps. 51:3]

Who in the eye of God was justified? It was the tax collector! "For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted." [Lk. 14:11, 18:14; Mt. 18:4, 23:12]

The necessity to humble oneself is echoed over and over in the Holy Bible. Here are a two examples. In the First Letter of Peter, we read, "All of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for 'God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.' Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you in due time." [1 Pet. 5:5- 7]

In the Letter of Paul to the Colossians, we read, "As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience." [Col. 3:12]

As Christians, we are called to humble ourselves as Jesus humbled Himself. How great was the humility of Jesus! "... Being found in human form, (Jesus) humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross." [Phil. 2:8] He in Who the fullness of God was pleased to dwell bodily, [Col. 1:19, 2:9] "emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness." [Phil. 2:7] What great love for each and everyone of us the Lord Jesus has manifested through this great act of humility!

Before closing my homily, I would like to provide you with example of areas in life where people lack in humility.

1) First, let us start with the children and teenagers. How many boast of how smart they are in school? Many, because of the boasting of their academic successes, they put down the other children and teens, consequently destroying the self-confidence of those who have lower marks.

2) How about those fishing stories that we hear all the time, the fishermen who caught a fish as big as this (extend hands four feet apart)? They threw the fish back into the water because they only went fishing for the sport.

3) How about all those golfing pros who claim to have made a hole in one so many times? While the real pros rarely make a hole in one, we suddenly have all these golfers boasting of their great accomplishments.

4) Then we have those cooks who boast that they are betters cooks than anyone else. While it cannot be denied that there are some very good cooks, everybody cannot be the best cooks! As you can see, humility can even be practiced in the kitchen.

5) And then there are those who boast that they are holier than others because they implement so many hours of adoration during the month, or they implement an endless list of spiritual devotions on a daily basis, or even they pray so many Rosaries. While these pious devotions are commendable, by boasting of them, one becomes no different than the Pharisee.

These are but a few examples of how we can lack in the virtue of humility in our daily lives. By placing ourselves above all others, in truth, we are calling upon ourselves the Lord's judgment. The end result will be that we will be among the last. It is better to practice daily humility in our lives, praising and encouraging others. Then the Lord God shall exalt us because of our genuine humility.

As we continue with the celebration of the Holy Mass, let us ask the Holy Spirit to teach us true humility so we may always be pleasing to the eyes of God.