This past Sunday, the last one of Ordinary Time right before Ash Wednesday, we heard a three-pronged message from Jesus regarding the integrity of those who strive to be his disciples. Such integrity is founded on humility and introspection, such as recognizing one’s own blindness, or removing the wooden beam from one’s eye before focusing on the splinter in the brother’s eye. And just as the roots of a fruit tree may need healing in order to bear healthy, good fruit, so may our hearts.
We will be known by the fruit we bear, rooted in our hearts. Anyone who has been a parent of a teenager knows that the approach of “do as I say, not as I do,” carries little weight and inspires not. And this is of course not just with teens. In that sense, if we take seriously that we are called to be disciples of Jesus, to be those who learn from the master and then are sent out to share the Gospel with others; we must first begin with working on ourselves. We must first turn inward; and this begins with true humility.
Lent is a special time that we are given each year to re-order our priorities and to renew our focus on the Gospel of Jesus. We begin it by an act of humbling ourselves, by receiving ashes. The Roman Missal offers two options for the words to be said while the minister places the ashes on the forehead of the faithful. The first is very direct: “Remember you are dust, and to dust you will return.” This option directly connects the symbol with the root origin of the words humility and humble, from the Latin “humus,” meaning “earth.” At its root sense, to be humble then means to literally lower oneself to the ground. The second likewise invites the faithful to humility by recognizing one’s own limitations and faults, and makes a connection with discipleship: “Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”
This lowering ourselves to the ground is not an act of making ourselves feel worthless. This would not make sense, as we do so with our eyes towards salvation and the Resurrection. Jesus did not come to save garbage! The austerity and humility of Lent cannot be separated from the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus. The latter is of course the center of the Gospel of Jesus, which shows us the power of humble love.
Ultimately, humility is central to discipleship because it is in being humble that we can learn from the Master and become like him (as mentioned also in last Sunday’s Gospel). We repent not to stay on the ground, but to be lifted up by the Master, learn from him, and realize our true value in the eyes of God. By believing in the Gospel, we are made strong to go out and announce the Good News, and our words and actions carry more weight as those who practice what they preach. There is something special about those who live the Gospel like they believe it in their core.
Thus, humility is the beginning of true change in our hearts, and in the world around us. True humility takes true strength (that wooden beam sounds quite heavy!). And by going to our core (“heart”) we are able to be made so much stronger. We do this by getting our egos out of the way and letting God’s grace in, such that he can use us as his instruments, oftentimes in ways we never would have imagined.
May the receiving of ashes today be the impetus of our humbling ourselves and turning our hearts more to the hope of the Gospel. If we go down deep, and accept the challenges of this season in prayer, fasting and almsgiving, it will bear good fruit not only in our lives, but in also those around us.
We will be known by the fruit we bear, rooted in our hearts. Anyone who has been a parent of a teenager knows that the approach of “do as I say, not as I do,” carries little weight and inspires not. And this is of course not just with teens. In that sense, if we take seriously that we are called to be disciples of Jesus, to be those who learn from the master and then are sent out to share the Gospel with others; we must first begin with working on ourselves. We must first turn inward; and this begins with true humility.
Lent is a special time that we are given each year to re-order our priorities and to renew our focus on the Gospel of Jesus. We begin it by an act of humbling ourselves, by receiving ashes. The Roman Missal offers two options for the words to be said while the minister places the ashes on the forehead of the faithful. The first is very direct: “Remember you are dust, and to dust you will return.” This option directly connects the symbol with the root origin of the words humility and humble, from the Latin “humus,” meaning “earth.” At its root sense, to be humble then means to literally lower oneself to the ground. The second likewise invites the faithful to humility by recognizing one’s own limitations and faults, and makes a connection with discipleship: “Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”
This lowering ourselves to the ground is not an act of making ourselves feel worthless. This would not make sense, as we do so with our eyes towards salvation and the Resurrection. Jesus did not come to save garbage! The austerity and humility of Lent cannot be separated from the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus. The latter is of course the center of the Gospel of Jesus, which shows us the power of humble love.
Ultimately, humility is central to discipleship because it is in being humble that we can learn from the Master and become like him (as mentioned also in last Sunday’s Gospel). We repent not to stay on the ground, but to be lifted up by the Master, learn from him, and realize our true value in the eyes of God. By believing in the Gospel, we are made strong to go out and announce the Good News, and our words and actions carry more weight as those who practice what they preach. There is something special about those who live the Gospel like they believe it in their core.
Thus, humility is the beginning of true change in our hearts, and in the world around us. True humility takes true strength (that wooden beam sounds quite heavy!). And by going to our core (“heart”) we are able to be made so much stronger. We do this by getting our egos out of the way and letting God’s grace in, such that he can use us as his instruments, oftentimes in ways we never would have imagined.
May the receiving of ashes today be the impetus of our humbling ourselves and turning our hearts more to the hope of the Gospel. If we go down deep, and accept the challenges of this season in prayer, fasting and almsgiving, it will bear good fruit not only in our lives, but in also those around us.
