Christ the King; Freedom = Humility

Sr Jessica Power’s poem “This may Explain”

The door to God, the door to any grace
Is very little, very ordinary.
Those must remember who would gain the place
This rule does not vary:
All truth, all love are by humiliation
Guarded, as one has testified before,
This may explain why the serf finds salvation
And kings and scholars pass the little door.

Humility is a virtue, it is part of our human nature.
Humility is a virtue that opens us to the fullness of life.

As we accept ourselves as loved by the Father, Son and Holy Spirit for who we are, this is Humility.
As we accept that all others are loved by God equally, not matter what or who, this is humility.
As we accept that the only person we can control is ourselves, and only a small bit of ourselves...this is humility.

I hear and experience so much anger in people.
People are angry with their spouses, their children and parents, with the world around them.
People are angry at strangers.
Anger over people who do not conform to their way of understanding of the world.

We are little tyrants, little Roman procurators or little Roman emperors.

                                                   

Anger is the emotional response to when what we expect does not happen.
We can use other words to describe it: impatience, frustration, irritation; but it is rooted in we did not get what we want.
We expect something or someone, including God and ourselves to be a certain way...and it does not happen.


Anger itself is NOT sinful.
It is our reaction or action with the anger that makes the sin or not.

It can be those mean little jokes we think are funny, but in fact are hurtful.
It can show us in the passive aggressive ways that we tend to do.
And the very overt ways, violence, ranting and raving.

I know of one person, long filled with anger. The world never conformed to his way. Life did not seem to go the way he planned. He had such anger, never healed, never released, never forgiven...so it tends to show itself in too much alcohol consumption; drug use. His health is horrible; Stroke or heart attack in progress. Yet there are glimpses of such love within him; that burst through. I know there is such capacity in him. That anger though remains such a block.


When we choose to remain angry, choose to continue to believe that we have control over the world and all others in it: this becomes the sin.


Humility moves us beyond “myself, my needs, my need to control”
Humility allows us to see the bigger picture, to see what we can truly do, and then do it.
Humility brings us really into control and into the fullness of life.

Humble people still get angry, but the anger is healed, not given power.

Christ our King is the Humble one.
He calls us to the path of humility, as the path to true life. So that we can be open to love, to the fullness of life.

                                 
Humility strengthens families, relationships, parishes.
Humility brings with it a sense of serenity, peace, wholeness.

Jesus in our Gospel shows all of this.

He is confronted by the arrogance of the system, the symbol of the world’s view on power, and not just in Roman times, but even now.
He knows he is loved by the Father, no matter what.
No government, no religious authority, nobody else can take that away.

He thwarts it by the scandal of the cross.

His whole life is one of humility.
There is no force or coercion.
Rather, he shared, he forgave and gave, he built community.
Yes, He got angry, but he harnessed into what is good; to call his disciples into a better way of life.

Jesus was always loving, directed outward.
Even in that most supreme moment of his earthly life, being persecuted and executed...he was looking beyond himself.

And he remained totally in control.

The resurrection becomes the sign from the Father that Humility brings life.

The high point, the climax of every mass is what is called the doxology.
It is when the the Sanctified Hosts and Wine are elevated, and the priest intones “Through him, with him, and in him, to You almighty Father, in the Unity of the Holy Spirit, all Glory forever and ever”

                          
To which we as one church, one community declare the GREAT AMEN!
The great YES! To the way of humility, the way of peace.

This is our King!
This is the royal way unto which we were created and called to live so that we may have life. This is true power!

We celebrate humility.
We eat and drink Humility.

We let humility reign?