Fourth Sunday of Advent
Our first reading an our Gospel focus specifically on humility. In the first reading we heard about Bethlehem, who is so small, and yet will be the place from which comes the ruler in Israel, the ruler “whose origin is from of old, from ancient times.” Bethlehem was the City of King David, which is why Joseph and Mary had to travel back there during the census, since both Joseph and Mary were of the house of David. But it had long since lost its notoriety, and was a place of no importance. Still, God chose that place for His co-eternal Son to be born, from two parents who were very poor, who had next to nothing.
Our Gospel, too, talks about the Blessed Mother’s visit to Elizabeth. Now, I’ve never been pregnant, but I’m not sure, if I were pregnant, that I would walk from Nazareth to Ein Kerem, a distance of 80 miles, to see my cousin, who was also pregnant. However, Elizabeth was old, and it was out of love and concern that Mary did not think about her own needs, but went to take care of her family member. Mary does not bask in the fact that she is the Mother of God (remember that life starts at conception, not birth!). She does not let this great honor go to her head. She focuses on the needs of others, and does as a pregnant woman what others may not have done without a child in the womb.
I’m sure we’ve all heard lots about humility. Often times it gets confused with abasement, with lowering oneself. And maybe that’s because our general trend is puffing ourselves up. But humility is primarily concerned with the truth about ourselves, not with making ourselves less than we are. Humility is thinking neither less nor more than we truly are. And in not thinking more of ourselves than we are, in not holding on to what we want to believe we are, we open our hands to receive who we are from God. Humility allows us to not try to take our identity, certainly not from what others say, but from the one who created us, from God, who knows who we are better than we do ourselves.
Bethlehem didn’t try to put on heirs. It didn’t advertise itself as a center of power (that would have been Jerusalem). But God chose it to be the place where the Messiah would be born. Mary, though she was of the house of David, did not act as if she was supposed to be a queen. And yet, because she became the Mother of God, truly became the Queen Mother of Heaven and Earth. Humility allowed more honors than either of them could have achieved if they would have sought after honors and privilege themselves.
That approach to life is hard for us. And it certainly doesn’t mean that we don’t use our gifts and talents to better the areas in which we live, work, etc. That’s false humility, not recognizing the gifts that we have, burying our talents. But it also doesn’t mean that we seek after power and notoriety. We strive to be the best mother, father, daughter, or son that we can be, but when we do something well, we don’t have to proclaim it to the world. We strive to be the best boss or best employee that we can be, but we don’t do it so that we are noticed by corporate or by our boss, we do it because it helps the company and the people that the company serves. We strive to be the best student we can be, but we don’t have to brag to our friends that we got an A. It’s not bad to be happy about those things, and maybe even to share then with close friends and family. But it’s not about what others think of us. It’s about how God thinks of us.
Pride so often closes our hands to what God wants to give us. God wants to give us every good gift that we need for our salvation. God never holds something back from us that we need, because He is our loving Father. And yet, in our pride, we close our hands to hold on to the lesser gifts that we think we need, that gives us passing pleasure. And because of that, we might miss out on opportunities that God desires for us. In these last couple of days of Advent, may we rediscover the gift of humility, which opens our lives us to the great things that God wants for us. May we have the trust in God to let Him exalt us, rather than trying to exalt ourselves.