Mother Teresa once said, “Take the time to do humble works, to wash and clean, to show your love for Jesus in real, loving action.” Her sisters, the Missionaries of Charity, do this every day in their work with the poorest of the poor all over the world. One time, some of the sisters went out to visit a poor man who had been “left in a terrible condition.” They cleaned his room, washed his clothes and bathed him thoroughly. He accepted this service in silence. They continued to serve him in the same way for a couple of days. Finally, the man spoke: “You have brought God in my life, bring father also.” The sisters brought a priest, who heard the man’s confession after he had been away for sixty years. That man died the next morning.
Brothers and sisters, there is beauty in humble service. Those Missionaries of Charity didn’t say a single word about Jesus to the man, but they showed him Jesus through their willingness to humbly serve Him. And through their kind, loving service, he was reconciled to the Lord before he passed. Humble servants like those sisters are a blessing to all they encounter. They can certainly teach us a lesson or two.
At the home of the pharisees, Jesus saw how people were jockeying for positions of honor and He set them straight, saying: “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” These wise words are the guide for all of us who aspire to live out our Christian life honestly. Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity are great living examples of this humility which Jesus calls each of us to embody.
A pitfall for many of us in this fallen world is making an idol out of ourselves. This is what pride, the opposite of humility, does to us. In our pride, we look for ways that others can serve our needs and get frustrated when they don’t. But humility flips that on its head. Humility, as C.S. Lewis put it, is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less. Jesus invites us to spend our lives not building ourselves up, but looking for opportunities to build others up. When we pour out ourselves for others, then we actually become who God made us to be. That is the paradox of humility: when we pour ourselves out, we become full.
This is what Jesus promises us: “the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” We become exalted through humble service because it involves letting Jesus work through us. So when we conform ourselves to Jesus’ loving service through pouring ourselves out for others, we become much richer because we dive more fully into Jesus, the Source of all good things!
Perhaps you all have gotten glimpses of the incredible richness that is found in service. Some of my happiest moments have been those where I am caught up in serving others. And when we serve with others, it helps deepen our relationships because it brings us closer together to other members of the Body of Christ. Jesus invites us not to be so concerned with serving those who can repay us, but those who can’t give us anything in return: “the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.” When we serve them out of love, we store up treasure in Heaven, where all that counts is how well we have loved God and our neighbors. As the reading from Sirach reminds us: “Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with God.”
Over and over throughout the history of the Church, the greatest Saints have been those who followed the path of humility, of getting out of their own way so that Jesus could love through them more fully. Think about the service that St. Francis paid to the poor, the humble service of Padre Pio to the many who came to him for Confession, the humble acts of love of St. Therese of Lisieux to her fellow sisters which have inspired so many, the generosity of Blessed Carlo Acutis in putting his technological skills at the service of making the Eucharist more loved. All of these people give us a glimpse of that heavenly reality where the greatest glory is to have served the most fully. Let us all set our hearts on that goal this Sunday.
I leave us with Mother Teresa’s humility list to help challenge us all to embrace deeper humility:
1. Speak as little as possible about yourself.
2. Keep busy with your own affairs and not those of others.
3. Avoid curiosity.
4. Do not interfere in the affairs of others.
5. Accept small irritations with good humor.
6. Do not dwell on the faults of others.
7. Accept censures even if unmerited.
8. Give in to the will of others.
9. Accept insults and injuries.
10. Accept contempt, being forgotten and disregarded.
11. Be courteous and delicate even when provoked by someone.
12. Do not seek to be admired and loved.
13. Do not protect yourself behind your own dignity.
14. Give in, in discussions, even when you are right.
15. Choose always the more difficult task.
+ Father, thank you for showing us the path of humility through Your Son. Jesus, help us to be humble like You so that others might experience Your love through our service. Holy Spirit, open our hearts to deeper humility and help us repent of any pride which holds us back from loving as we should. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen. +