Weekly HOMILY for August 29, 2010: Humility, an Enlighted Perspective

22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle C
St. Mark Church, Fallston
August 29, 2010

Humility, an Enlightened Perspective
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato



TURKS AND MUSLIMS

Two years ago this month, it was August 2008; I traveled east to the country of Turkey.

Pope Benedict had declared that as “The Year of Saint Paul.” It was the 2,000th anniversary of Paul’s birth.

So, I, and a priest friend, decided to do something special for our vacation. We signed up for a Pilgrimage in the Footsteps of St. Paul to Turkey. It would take us to the sites of the Seven Churches of the Book of Revelation, places where Saint Paul had established early Christian communities.

I have to admit that from the outset I had some anxiety. I knew that Turkey is more of an Eastern Country while it is located in both Europe and the Middle East.

I did not speak Turkish and the people of Turkey are 98% Muslim, so I felt a bit anxious about our safety.

I am so glad that I went. Besides feeling very enriched by visiting many historical and sacred sites, I also came away with a far different feeling about Muslims.

I found them to be respectful and courteous. We visited many mosques and observed them at prayer.

Our Guide was a Muslim Turk named Izzet. He was a refined and educated gentleman.

I remember very clearly the day he took us to Ephesus to visit the house where tradition says that Mary lived her last years, died, and was assumed into heaven. I was very touched when this Muslim guide, Izzet, reverently spoke of “Mother Mary” – “Mother Mary,” a lovely term I had never heard before.

I also remember spending a weekend of rest – and we needed the rest because this was an arduous tour – at the beautiful resort town of Antalya located right on the Mediterranean. I was swimming and in line for the water slide.

I noticed a man starring at me and at first I wondered why. Then I realized that I clearly looked western from my features and the color of my skin.

And beyond that, I had a chain around my neck with a cross on it. So I was clearly a Christian.

I remember how well treated I was by this fellow. He motioned for me to go before him on the water slide with the same solicitude he would pay another Turk or Muslim.


HUMILITY

Why do I share this experience with you today? I share it because the heartfelt experience is really about the virtue of humility.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus calls us not to see others with abstract labels, with preconceived mental constructs, prejudices, or popular stereotypes. Those are all fabrications within my mind.

In contrast, Jesus calls us not to think ourselves as above or beyond or higher than others. This is the lesson of today’s Gospel.

Jesus does call us to see others – indeed all persons – with our hearts and with the same heart that God has for us.

The humility of the Gospel then is:

1. Our heartfelt awareness that each of us is dependent upon God (heart not head knowledge.)

2. Our experience that all the blessings we have really come from God’s love for us and not from our own merit. And with this enlightened awareness, our response is to try and return that love to those around us (again, heart knowledge not head knowledge.)

3. Gospel humility is the awareness that every human being shares with me the same dignity of being made in the image and likeness of God. It is awareness of my dependence on God and of my oneness with all God’s children on this earth (and I feel it here – in my heart – not just here – in my head.)


A NEW PERSPECTIVE

This Gospel humility certainly demands a new perspective, a new vision for seeing ourselves and others, and our relationship with God.

Furthermore, this Gospel humility:

1. Goes against our cultural individualism – our unchecked and excessive assertion of ourselves as individuals

2. It goes against our cultural holding of ourselves as higher, above, or better than someone else. This humility is challenging because it calls us to let go of this point of view, but, remember, this point of view is at the very core of who Jesus is and what he calls us to be as persons of faith
3. And oddly enough, I believe it is also at the core of being both patriotic and a good citizen of the world in this 21st century, because only this way will give us the hope for true peace.

So, in conclusion, humility – the virtue Jesus lifts up for us today.

A humility that comes from a heart that knows and loves the Lord first and through that love is empowered to love others!