Faith-Poverty-Humility-Wisdom-Servite founders

HOMILY WEEK 06 01 – Year II

Humility, Wisdom and Joy:

Optional Memorial of the Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order

(James 1:1-11; Ps 119; Mk 8:11-13)

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Humility, Wisdom, Joy.

Those three words can be a profound seven-syllable mantra for contemplative prayer emerging from today’s readings. They provide us with a compelling message: Be humble, pray for wisdom and we will experience joy.

Psalm 119 sets the tone, with its emphasis on humility. That is noteworthy, because the focus of this psalm is not so much humility, but the law. Every stanza except one of this psalm refers in some way to the law – in today’s passage, we find “statutes, law, judgments, promise.”

However, in the three stanzas chosen for today, we also find references to humility: “Before I was humbled,” “It was good for me that I was humbled” and “in faithfulness you have humbled me.” Some would claim that humility is the basic virtue, even underlining love, as without humility, love can become either a show or a sham.

Lucie Leduc, director of the Star of the North Retreat Centre in St. Albert, reflects that the two naturally go together, because the law of God itself is humble, so keeping the law thus leads to humility.

That insight resonates with the way I like to summarize the law as presented to us by Jesus: love God with our whole being, love our neighbor as we love ourselves, love one another as Jesus loved us, and love our enemies by forgiving them from the heart. We are humble when we worship God; we are humble when we trust and genuinely care for others; we are humble when we can be truthful about ourselves; we are humble when we sacrifice our desires for the good of others as Jesus did, and we are especially humble when we love those who hurt us by blessing and forgiving them, instead of reacting in kind and hurting them back.

Even James, in the first reading, urges us to be humble: “Let the believer who is lowly boast in being raised up, and the rich in being brought low.” In essence, the proud will be humbled, and the humble, who do not exalt themselves, will be exalted.

The Word Among Us suggests that the letter of James has much in common with the Wisdom books of the Old Testament, with its practical prescriptions on how to be holy and just. James describes what the “just person” looks like, not simply by virtue of obeying the Law, but by virtue of the grace we receive from Christ. That’s the lens through which James speaks to us. And that’s why he is quick to remind us how much Jesus loves to give us good gifts.

James urges us to pray especially for the gift of wisdom, which in the Old Testament is referred to as an attribute of God. Like humility, it undergirds all of life. Without wisdom, many of our other virtues can also go astray.

I believe I was an example of that lack of wisdom as a young, enthusiastic Oblate missionary in my first mission. When suddenly and unexpectedly given the responsibility of pastoring a parish, I unwisely threw myself into ministry without prudent boundaries, working impossible hours, trying to fix all the problems of five hundred people in a year, guided more by my workaholism, need for success and approval, Mr. Fix-It attitude and Messiah complex, than by God’s will. It took me some hard knocks to realize that I was actually committing what T. S. Elliot describes as treason – “To do the right thing for the wrong reason is the greatest kind of treason.” I was doing not God’s will, but my will in God’s name! No wonder there was drivenness and grim determination about my ministry, rather than joy and creativity.

Now I believe that joy is not a goal but a by-product. It is not something we try to fabricate for ourselves, but the result of being humble and wise, of truly following the laws and commandments of Jesus – the law of love.

Wisdom and humility will manifest themselves in our lives when we follow the law of love – when we can let go of the need for wealth and riches; when we can let go of any need for status, prestige, recognition and attention; when we can let go of the need to have power and control over others and situations in our ministry or work. The result will be personal freedom from addiction, and joy in just being, and doing what we can to help build up the reign of God here on earth.

Today the church invites us to honor the seven holy founders of the Servite Order, who truly lived the message of today’s readings. One of the earliest orders of mendicants – religious communities who rely solely on charity for support – the Order of Servites was founded in 1240. Between 1225 and 1227, seven young men from the city of Florence joined the Confraternity of the Blessed Virgin, whose members were popularly known as the Praisers. Inspired by visions of Our Lady, they decided to dedicate themselves to lives of prayer and service. In time, they attracted so many visitors that they decided to withdraw to a deserted mountain, where they built a church and hermitage, living a life of extreme austerity. Their bishop prevailed upon them to adopt a rule and accept recruits. This was followed by another vision of Our Lady on April 13, 1240, and a change of name to Servants of Mary, or Servites. The new order grew quickly. One of the early recruits was Peregrine Laziosi, now patron saint of persons with serious illnesses. Of the original seven all but one became priests. Only the lay brother, who lived to be 110, saw the order fully recognized in 1304.

The Eucharist is a humble meal during which we acknowledge our weakness and brokenness, listen attentively to the law of God, and have the faith and wisdom to recognize Jesus in the breaking of bread and sharing of wine.

May our celebration strengthen our faith in Jesus, deepen our humility before him as our Lord and Messiah, grant us the wisdom we need to live the law of love, and fill us with that joy that is already a sharing in the eternal life he wishes to give us, that only the wise and humble can receive.