In the Middle Ages, slavery was an ongoing issue. Raiders would come from across the Mediterranean and steal away Christians to be sold into slavery. It was such an issue that a man by the name of Peter Nolasco, later named a saint, founded an order called Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy to combat the slave trade. But his approach was not one of military prowess, but rather of humility. The members of this order would take a vow past that of poverty, charity, and obedience, which was to die if necessary to save another\u2019s faith. This meant for them that they would often sell themselves into slavery in exchange for the Christians who were stolen from their homeland. As a result, this order was able to free thousands of slaves over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this Sunday\u2019s reading, we hear something similar in the words of St. Paul, who tells us that Jesus Christ took the form of a slave. Slavery has always been a despicable thing throughout history and continues to be one. So, perhaps we ought to ask why take the form of a slave? Why degrade yourself (especially in Jesus\u2019 case when he is truly God)? The answer is simple, because of love. St. Paul tells us, \u201cGod shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us\u201d (Romans 5:8, RSV). In other words, he desired and willed our good. For us, we need to do the same; to truly love God and one another, we need the virtue of humility. Christ shows us this in that he completely empties himself, even though he does not deserve this emptying, for he is God. He is the greatest of all beings, and yet he takes the lowliest of places, being born in a stable among filth and beasts, dying the death of a criminal, all the while being treated in the most inhuman way, all because of love. And here we are, creatures born in sin and weakness, who deserve nothing less than hell for our sins, but yet too often we desire deference and esteem. Yet when one does not take the route of humility the only road is pride, the most destructive of all sins, which prefers our understanding of what is best in contrast to all else. Pride skews our view of reality, whereas humility allows us to rely on God and see things as God sees them. This is made evident in the first reading, and the Gospel as well. Ezekiel conveys this image of a people who do not see God\u2019s mercy, but only their own plight, and God reminds them that if they preferred His ways instead of their own they would have life. But too often we want God to listen to us rather than us listening to God. Similarly, in the Gospel, Christ calls out those who think they are doing the will of the Father but rather are only doing their own will and claiming it to be the Father\u2019s. Whereas the ones who can see themselves as sinners and in need of God\u2019s redemption and love, can see the truth, as God\u2019s it, and do his will. Thus, if we are to claim that we truly love God and neighbour, we must seek to see the world as it is, that is with the eyes of humility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Isaac Nibourg<\/strong> \u2013 St. Joseph Seminary, Edmonton, Alberta<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1873,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,17,18],"tags":[253],"class_list":["post-2766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-strona-glowna-najnowsze","category-strona-glowna-slider","tag-isaac"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n