Today we are give a glimpse into the virtue of charity. In the words of Saint Ambrose, “After he had healed the man with the dropsy Jesus gives a lesson in humility.” As we were instructed in our Gospel, “Everyone that exalteth himself shall be humbled, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
It is easy to look upon the one who is ill and see that something is wrong with them. It is more difficult for us to look into the depths of one’s own soul and see the healing that needs to take place. It is only with the festering of a serious wound that we are moved into action while we need to be concerned with the inner turmoil that takes place from within.
Our Lord displays such a reality by curing the man with dropsy. Dropsy is a swelling that is caused by the excess of water into the body. It’s reality easily becomes known while the Pharisees suffered from a much great excess that needed healing from within. This healing would be brought about by the one who was now before them, Christ the Lord.
When pride over takes our soul it is easy to not see the need for such healing to take place. We like the Pharisees can begin to think that our outward actions are good enough even if we don’t allow anything to take place within us. What good will a list of the good that we have done in this life be at the time of judgement if our heart was never in the right place?
Our Blessed Mother cries out from the depths of such humility in the Magnificat, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.” This prayer perfectly sums up humility. She was given such a wondrous gift, but she remained firmly rooted in her love for God and that gift that was given to her.
Where do we need to allow humility to creep into our life to overcome the pride that has taken root within us? The prideful spend so much time having people look at them while the humble live authentically in God’s presence. It is for this reason that we cannot take the greatest place at table for there is one greater then us that we must allow into our life. Saint John the Baptist understood this as he stated, “He must increase, I must decrease.”
To grow in humility we must pray that we will receive such a gift each day. We must come to understand that God is the source of all good and assists us in the growth of all virtue. We must learn to become thankful for everything that God has given to us in this life. Finally, we must learn to accept the cross in our life for the cross leads us down the path of humility.
Let us take this lesson of humility upon ourself and desire to open our heart and soul to the Lord in order that we may always be found humble of heart.
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