Sirach 3:1718,20,28-29; Hebrews 12:18-23; Luke 14:1,7-14
It is through pride that sin and suffering came into this world. Our first parents, Adam and Eve, were faced with the very temptation that resulted in the fall of the tempter. As faith teaches us, Satan began as an angel named Lucifer. Created as a pure spirit, with full knowledge and will, Lucifer wanted to be God. As creature, though, Lucifer could never become his Creator, and so he was cast out of heaven, along with all the other angels whom he had brought into his army.
This is why Satan tempted Adam and Eve with his own desire. He promised them that they would be like God. They gave into this temptation. They were not content to simply accept the gifts which God had given them. In their desire to have more, in their desire to be like God, they brought great pain and suffering upon themselves, and they brought sin and suffering into the world.
Now the desire to be like God is not a bad thing. After all, we have been created in God’s image and likeness and so it our destiny to become like God. We are truly happy only when we live in God’s likeness and image. But being like God is not the same as being God. This is where the sin of pride enters the picture.
If we want more than what is ours to have we will be met with disappointment and sadness. God has gifted each one of us in a unique way. Some have the gift of speaking, others of listening; some the gift of leadership, others the gift of following. We have each been graced by God with specific gifts and abilities and it our calling to discover these gifts and live according to our own unique purpose.
But sometimes we do not recognize our gifts, or are not satisfied with what has been given us and so we become ungrateful and develop a desire for more. The greatest gift that God has given us, next to our faith, is the gift of one another. However, sometimes we have such a strong sense of independence that we forget our need for other people. Self-pride gets in the way of our relationships and we end up lonely.
It is this false sense of pride which motivates us to go out and buy the best car, and the best clothes, and live in the best houses, especially when we find ourselves living beyond our own financial abilities. This once was called “keeping up with the Joneses,” or trying to be something we are not. The problem with this is that no matter how much a person owns, no matter how much wealth a person accumulates, our possessions will not bring us happiness.
It is pride which perpetuates some of our own false images. It is pride which keeps the addict from seeking help. It is pride which keeps a dysfunctional family from dealing with their problems. It is pride which continues the cycles of abuse. “I am too ashamed to ask for help. I am too afraid of what others will think. I am too afraid to confront my problems. I am too afraid to turn to God.”
Pride causes pain and suffering. Pride causes loneliness as it prevents us from reaching out to others for help. Pride came into the world through people and so it was through the humility of one person that pride was conquered. That person is Jesus Christ. God humbled himself by becoming human with all our limitations. Not only did God choose to become human, he also chose the humblest of all humanity by being born to a poor Jewish girl married to a common laborer. They were so lowly that when it was time to be born into this world, God was born in a barn because there was no room in the place where the respectable people lodged. God’s first visitors were shepherds, the lowest of all people on the social scale.
He lived at a time when the religious leaders were more concerned with power and prestige than with the faith of God’s people. The political structure of his time clearly divided the multitudes of poor from the very small number of wealthy people. He lived at a time when people were considered outcast because of disease, unemployment, and even sin.
The world hasn’t changed all that much. We still have corrupt religious leaders more concerned about wealth and personal gain than about the salvation of people. Our political and economic structure is eating away at the middle class further dividing the haves from the have-nots. We are afraid of, and tend to shun people who have highly communicable diseases. We criticize and look down on people living on welfare and unemployment. We are quick to judge others when they have sinned. These are some of the many prices we pay for pride.
The answer to all this is humility. Just as God humbled himself and came to dwell among us, we must also foster the virtue of humility in our lives. Christ came to show us how to do this. To be like Christ we must be humble servants to one another, washing each other’s feet, taking the lowest places at table. We foster humility when we choose to love and care for those who are less fortunate than us. We foster humilty by acknowledging our faults and failings and using the power of God’s grace to grow beyond these limitations. We foster humility by recognizing that all that we have in this life is a gift from God to be used to build up is kingdom on earth. We foster humility by recognizing that every single human person, rich or poor, young or old, born or unborn, is a reflection of the God who made us all.
And so today, in this Eucharist, let us ask for the grace of humility so that we can let go of our own pride and become what we are truly called to be. Let us ask for the grace to accept our human limitations and overcome our weakness and brokenness. Let us ask for the grace of God’s healing so that we can help heal others. Let us ask for the grace to become what have been made and called to be, the Body of Christ.
