Shanborlang Mawrie csc –
Readings: 1Tim 2:1-8; Lk 7:1-10
Today’s readings invite us to reflect on humility. In the gospel, we see the humility of a centurion when he approached Jesus asking to heal his servant, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you under my roof, but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed.”
The words of this centurion which was full of faith and trust in the healing power of Jesus moved the heart of Jesus to heal his servant. The humility of this centurion invites us to humble ourselves to reach out to those who need our help by setting aside all the barriers we erect like the authority, power, caste, class, race, and so on. We see in the life of Centurion the efforts he took to reach out to Jesus and to plead for his servant. Here we see that living and practicing humility comes with human efforts.
Every day these words of the centurion remind us just before we receive Jesus in the holy communion to humble ourselves. Real humility helps us to know who we are and allow God to work his miracles through our lives. Humility demands our efforts and self-sacrifice to put it into action. Article 13 of the Constitutions of Holy Cross says, “Our efforts, which are his, reach out to the afflicted and in a preferential way to the poor and the oppressed. We come not just as servants but as their neighbour, to be with them and of them.”