Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle A

First Reading - Ezekiel 18:25-26

Responsorial - Psalm 25: 4-9

Second Reading - Philippians 2: 1-11

Alleluia Verse - John 10:27

Gospel - Matthew 21: 28-32

Humbly regard others as more important than yourselves.

You may have heard it said that humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less. True humility is neither of those. Jesus was the humblest person in all creation. He certainly did not think less of himself. True humility is setting your own importance aside to serve others out of love. When the second person of God became incarnate in the person of Jesus, he hung up his divinity as if it were a robe and became like us in all things except for sin. He only knew what the Father was pleased to tell him and he only did things the Father permitted him to do. He was obedient to the Father in all things.

We were made in the image and likeness of God. The image and likeness of God is sacrificial love. Humility is a fruit of sacrificial love. Sacrificial love has no regard for one’s importance. It only concerns itself with the good of the other. Jesus humbly went to his death so that he and the Father could raise us up to new life. The last thing Jesus told his Disciples before he ascended back to heaven was that we are to love each other with the same love he used to endure the cross. That is a big ask. We are called to die for one another if necessary. There is no greater love than to die for one’s friends. Fortunately, very few of us will ever be asked to die for another. We therefore instead are asked to live for one another.

You begin to live for another when you recognize the dignity inherent in all people and see them the same way Jesus sees them. Cast out all hate, envy, judgments, and preconceived notions. Forgive and let go of any pain they may have inflicted on you. If you are to love them the way Jesus loves them you have to set your own importance aside and serve them, even to the point of mounting the wood of the cross on their behalf. This is what it means to be a disciple of Christ.

Some of you will hear the gospel message today and say that it is too hard to do. That you can’t let go of the hate you feel for your neighbor. But over time the Holy Spirit will soften your heart and you will discover that the things that kept you from loving your neighbor really aren’t important at all. Slowly you will begin to see people with true sight as you begin to align your will with that of God’s. Only then can true service in love begin. Some of you will stand here today and praise God with your lips, confident that you are a good and faithful servant, but your confidence is rooted in pride and not humility. You will have already forgotten about loving your neighbor by the time you reach the parking lot.

Setting your own importance aside does not mean that you let yourself become a door mat for anyone to wipe their grubby feet on. A word you must be ready to use is no. To love is to will the good of another so if another is seeking something of you that isn’t for their good the loving thing to do is to say no. No one can give what they don’t have and sometimes your no is for your sake.

Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble. Or so the song says. But you have shown us the way to true humility. Guide us to be humble as you are humble.

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