Humble Pie

My apologies that this post is going up a little after the fact and refers to the readings for Tuesday and Wednesday. I'll have some thoughts out later about today's readings.
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Tuesday's Gospel contains one of Jesus' many tirades against the hypocrisy and pride of the scribes and the Pharisees. It's extraordinary how vehement Jesus is in His criticisms of the Pharisees in so many places, and yet how gentle and non-judgmental he is with more "ordinary" sinners like prostitutes, tax collectors, and adulterers. The pride and hypocrisy of the Pharisees seems so much more offensive to Jesus than the greed and sexual sins of the people. Why is that?

In a way the Pharisees have presumed to take on God's role as ultimate judge of human behavior, and in a sense their behavior is a form of blasphemy. To make matters worse, their pride and hypocrisy shows that they have lost the healthy sense of who they really are -- creation rather than Creator, and that they are utterly lacking in authenticity and humility.

Wednesday's reading builds on this theme. In the first part, Jesus describes the ultimate act of service he is about to perform:

"Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem,
and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests
and the scribes,
and they will condemn him to death,
and hand him over to the Gentiles
to be mocked and scourged and crucified,
and he will be raised on the third day."

Soon he will give up everything in humble service to us out of His great love. Contrast this with the plea of the mother of James and John that follows: "Command that these two sons of mine sit, one at your right and the other at your left, in your kingdom." She is asking for them the same kind of place at the head of the table that the Pharisees used to lord their power over the people, only not in this world, but the next. This also is a loving Mom looking out for the sons she loves.

But it's the wrong question. Jesus asks the two brothers "Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?" -- can you serve, suffer, and die for me? "We can," they reply. This is the right question, and the right answer. However it is not for Jesus to place the two at His right and His left -- even Jesus, God's son, did not presume to take on a part of God's job as the Pharisees did.

When the other ten get bent out of shape about this exchange, Jesus explains the meaning of yesterday's reading and today's:

"You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them,
and the great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you.
Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.
Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many."

In other words, he called each of them to a life of humility and service. Fr. Louie talked about humility in his homily on Ash Wednesday, and offered what I thought was a great way to think about it. We often think of humility as self-deprecation, but that's not really it, and in fact self-deprecation can even lead to false modesty. Fr. Louie said "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but rather thinking of yourself less."

And when you think of yourself less, you will think more about others, which will in turn lead you serve others rather than solely serving yourself.