Homily: Thursday - 4th Week of Lent 2017 - Humility is living in the Truth

At the end of the Gospel on Tuesday, we heard how after curing the man born blind, “the Jews tried all the more to kill him”. Jesus, seeming to know their intentions, begins this long testimony, as if he had been put on the stand at a trial.

A successful lawyer was once asked to name the most essential factor for a winning case. He said, more important than a fair judge, a sympathetic jury, or a truthful client, is a credible witness. In the gospel readings yesterday and today, Jesus presents various credible witnesses to the Jews that he is the Son of God.

John the Baptist testifies to His identity, the heavenly father testifies to His identity, Jesus’ works and deeds testify to His identity, the scriptures, the old testament, testify to His identity, and Moses testifies to His identity.

With all of these credible witnesses to Jesus’ identity, why do they not believe? The failure to recognize truth is typically a failure of humility. St. Theresa of Avila said that humility is living in the truth, andar en la verdad, in her Spanish.

Those hostile to Jesus in the Gospel are so often putting themselves in the place of God, they forget the most important truth, that God is God and we are not.

The Lenten journey is one of humility.  We began Lent sprinkling our foreheads with ashes while hearing the words, “Remember, you are dust, and to dust you will return.”  The word humility derives from the word meaning “earth”.  The key to regaining lost humanity is through he humble recognition that we are not God, but that we need God, and must conform ourselves to the words and ways of God.

Theresa of Avila says it is a “cowardly soul” which runs from humility and runs from the truth. I think we see so many people falling away from the Church and resistant to the teaching of the Church, because they fear the change  that Christ demands. They prefer, like the Israelites in the first reading, their golden idols to the living God, because golden idols do not challenge them.

I think even faithful Catholics resist deep conversion because they are afraid to give up worldly attachments, familiar worldly ways of thinking.

Lent is so wonderful because God leads us cowards by the hand, through our Lenten prayer, fasting, and almsgiving he leads us to give up the non-essential, to find life in Him. May we trust God on this Lenten journey, to allow God to humble us, to convert us, and to lead us to living truth, for the Glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - - - - - 

That our Lenten prayer, fasting, and almsgiving may humble our earthly pride and bring about conversion and renewal within the Church.

For all those preparing to enter into Christ through the saving waters of Baptism and those preparing for full initiation this Easter, may these final Lenten weeks bring about purification from sin and enlightenment in the ways of holiness.

For those who have fallen away from the Church, who have become separated through error and sin, for those who reject the teachings of Christ, for their conversion and the conversion of all hearts.

For those experiencing any kind of hardship or sorrow, isolation, addiction, or illness: may they experience the healing graces of Christ.