These days our Scriptural readings are just “jumping” out of the pages to speak to us. Let’s take heed of the message in today’s Gospel reading (Mk 10:35-45).
In the Gospel reading on September 23 (Mark 9:30-37) the disciples were arguing among themselves as they journeyed with Jesus through Galilee toCapernaum. They were arguing about which of them was the greatest.
Jesus’ “lesson” to them is instructive to all of us: “If anyone wants to be first, he must make himself last of all and servant of all.” Today, we find James and John asking Jesus for a “favour” – to allow one of them to sit on his right hand and the other at his left “in your glory”. Well, of course the other disciples “began to feel indignant” with James and John. Once again, Jesus reminded them about what it means to be a Christian. He tells them: “… anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among you must be slave to all. For the Son of Man himself did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
It’s helpful to meditate on Jesus’ message as we enter the Year of Faith. Our vocation as Catholics is to be holy; it’s about giving selfless service at all levels of our Archdiocese – and further afield; it’s about using our time, talent and treasure to build the common good. That is how we will light up the world (Mt 5:14).
Humility is a virtue that many of us have to keep practising if we are to allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through us to build God’s Kingdom. Remember Jesus’ words in Luke 14:11: “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the man who humbles himself will be exalted.”
As Fr Ray Ryland reminds us: “Our Lord strongly emphasized the virtue of humility in His teaching. He began His Sermon the Mount with, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’ (Mt 5:3) ‘Poor in spirit’ translates ptochoi, which means ‘lowly,’ ‘humble’…St. Thomas wrote that ‘the virtue of humility consists in keeping oneself within one’s own bounds.’ That is, humility means recognizing and acting on our total dependence on God…
“The virtue of humility, therefore, is a pre-requisite to faith itself. In fact, we can say that the depth of our faith will be in direct proportion to the depth of our humility. Humility is sometimes called ‘the first virtue,’ in that it casts pride aside and helps a person become open to the working of God’s grace…humility is essential to the practice of all the virtues.”
So, let us get off our “high horses” and imitate Christ’s humility; let’s be true witnesses to our faith by practising humility. We will then be more discerning and will use our human ingenuity to determine how best we could serve our people – particularly the least among us. Now is the time, during the Year of Faith, for us to reflect on whether or not we live by the values we say we hold dear.
Its approval from this department makes the medicine canadian cialis pharmacy work on fast basis. Some people may also experience scaly-appearance at the base of penis which buy generic cialis makes it look big in size. It is not like tadalafil without prescription a hard tablet or any sort of refreshment or liquor or else it will adversely affect your wellbeing. You can price levitra easily find cheapest kamagra online from various stores across the UK.
If we say we love Jesus, then we must serve as Christ served. I want to acknowledge the fact that in T&T there are thousands of people who DO serve selflessly. It is because of their faith, their commitment and their dedication that “SS T&T” is still afloat!
A caller to CCSJ’s recent Ask Why TV programme implied that we are so “bad” in T&T that that is why there are no saints who originate from our country. I had to remind her, as did our panellists, that there are many people in T&T who have lived holy lives and who, when they died, must have gone to heaven. It’s just that none of them have been canonised.
On the Feast of All Saints we honour both canonised and uncanonised saints. We also have an obligation to pray for the repose of the souls of the faithful departed, particularly on All Souls Day (2 November), when our Church commemorates all those who have died and are in Purgatory. We pray that they will be “cleansed of their venial sins and the temporal punishments for the mortal sins that they had confessed before entering fully into Heaven.” (catholicism.about.com).
Be viewing ASK WHY on Channel 10 on Tues, Oct 23 from
8:00 p.m.- 9:00 p.m.
Theme: The 2013 Budget and Social Justice.
Panellists: Mary King and Louis Bertrand.
Moderator: Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ.
