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HUMILITY AS THE GATEWAY TO UNITY THROUGH SELFLESS SERVICE - stephenkhoo - 11-07-2012 02:40 PM
Scripture Reflections
Monday, 05 November, 2012, 31st Week, Ordinary Time
HUMILITY AS THE GATEWAY TO UNITY THROUGH SELFLESS SERVICE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: PHIL 2:1-4; LK 14:12-14
The first reading from St Paul’s letter to the Philippians surely strikes a cord with those of us heading an organization, religious or otherwise. Whether we are the pope, bishop, parish priest or chairman of any organization, we are responsible for preserving the unity and cohesiveness of members. There can be no concerted effort in achieving our goals if the members are divided in vision and mission. If everyone in the organization is united in conviction and love, “with a common purpose and a common mind”, then indeed, as St Paul expressed, this is “the one thing which would make me completely happy.”
Why is unity so important? The whole reason for Christ’s coming is unity. He comes to restore unity that is broken by sin. Because of sin, we are alienated from God, the source of unity and love. Estranged from God, man is divided within himself. This inner division of man is manifested in his failed relationships with his fellowmen because he lacks justice and charity. By His death and resurrection on the cross, Christ has reconciled us with God through forgiveness, bringing healing and restoration. Consequently, the greatest scandal in Christianity is the lack of unity within and without the Church. Since our mission is restoration of communion, it presupposes that this mission must be accomplished in communion. Otherwise it is a contradiction of who we are as the Body of Christ and what we are called to do as Church, the sacrament of unity of the human race.
What are the causes of disunity? In the first place, we must realize that selfishness and pride are the two main causes of disunity in community life. Selfishness implies individualism. We tend to put ourselves and our interests before the other person or before the group and organization. Most divisions and unhappiness among members in organizations are due to the fact that each one wants to do things according to his or her preference rather than consider the greater need of the organization. When individuals begin to conduct their private ministry within an organization, it leads to division.
The other obstacle to unity is pride. This is perhaps the greatest cause of division. Both pride and selfishness breed individualism. We think we know more than others. We think highly of ourselves especially when we are well educated or hold a certain position in society or in church. Pride prevents us from listening to each other. Pride insists on having things done our way. We are not ready to accept advice or give the benefit of the doubt to others. Instead, we become resentful because we cannot have things our way. This leads us to anger and quarrels. Pride also prevents us from dialogue and reconciliation with the other person. We are opinionated and are not open to our own faults and at the same time, not forgiving towards those who fail.
Protecting the unity of the community is perhaps the most daunting challenge of the leader of any community. How then can we safeguard our unity? St Paul gives us the guidelines to unity. He urges us to “be united in your convictions and united in your love, with a common purpose and a common mind.” Unity requires that we have the same conviction, by sharing the same faith in Christ and the message of the gospel. This means that we need to preserve doctrinal unity so that we can proclaim the message effectively. For this reason, the Holy Father on this Year of Faith invites Catholics to rediscover the richness of the Catholic Faith by studying the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Vatican Documents. But more than just unity in doctrines, there must be conviction in our hearts, and not simply a cerebral understanding of the Faith.
True faith however, must lead to love since faith without love is dead. This intimate relationship between faith and charity must be preserved. Charity must flow from faith otherwise it leads to sentimentalism and even frustration in the face of helplessness in bringing about peace and justice. Unity in love is the fruit of faith. We cannot claim that we love God or that God is in us if we have no love for our neighbors. So a lively faith in Christ will always bring about authentic love for our fellowmen because we see the face of the Risen Christ in them asking us for compassion. Indeed, all mystical writers insist that the fruit of prayer is charity. When charity, forgiveness and compassion are lacking, we know that our faith is still immature, regardless of how much theological knowledge we have amassed.
Having a common faith and conviction are the pre-requisites for mission. But how do we overcome individualism among our members? Earlier, St Paul gives us the foundation for unity; a foundation that is built on common convictions and fraternal love. Now he provides concrete guidelines on how we should act as a community. His exhortation to the Christians at Philippi is that of the way of humility. He spells out concretely what this humility entails in today’s first reading.
Firstly, humility is the basis for collaboration and teamwork. We are all team players. No one must work outside his or her team. The leader must listen to the team members and in turn the members must follow the team leader. When a member insists on going a separate way, it will no longer give glory to God since God is found and known when unity exists regardless of how much good he or she is doing. Where the Spirit is, there is unity. Unless we subordinate our own preference to the higher good of the team, we will destroy all the good work we are doing. When others see us working together in mutual respect, love and understanding, this in itself is a clear testimony of the presence of God in our midst. Once rivalry, jealousy, self-indulgence and individualism set in, others will see the devil at work in us.
Secondly, humility is to recognize our limitations. As St Paul says, “Everybody is to be self-effacing. Always consider the other person to be better than yourself.” The real obstacle to collaboration is that some of us think so highly of ourselves and are so self-opinionated that we simply cannot recognize and see the goodness in others. The truth is that all of us have different talents. We are all gifted in some things but not in everything. Awareness of our shortcomings will help us to appreciate the goodness in other people.
More importantly, St Paul reminds us that “there must be no competition among you, no conceit.” We must ask the Lord to help us uncover the real motives of our service. If we are truly intent on serving the Lord, why should there be competition among us? If we are not concerned with achieving honour and recognition and rewards for ourselves, what does it matter who does what and how we do so long as God is served and glorified? So those working for the Lord must be conscious that it is the Lord whom we serve and His glory is our sole desire. Instead of competing with each other, our task is to find ways we could collaborate by complementing each other according to the gifts that the Lord has graced us with. No one gift or talent is sufficient to build any community.
In a similar vein, Jesus in the gospel captures this theme of communion through humility and selflessness when He reminded His audience that when they have a party, they should “invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.” Apparently, the motive for doing so is because “they cannot pay you back means that you are fortunate, because repayment will be made to you when the virtuous rise again.” Of course, this is not what Jesus meant. We do not make use of the poor in order to get ourselves a place in heaven. Rather, by humbling ourselves in associating with the poor and identifying ourselves with them, we realize that what we have belong to them equally. They too have a share in this world’s goods and resources. It also means that we are capable of communion and unconditional love. This requires humility on our part if we were to see them as co-partners in faith and in salvation.
Finally, we must bear in mind that the invitation to foster communion through humble and selfless service cannot be merely a desire. Rather, St Paul grounds this calling in Jesus, who emptied Himself of His divinity and became a slave unto death for us. So we have a concrete exemplar of humility in service. Because Jesus acted like a humble servant in solidarity with us, He could thus reconcile man with man and man with God. Let us pray to Jesus for this same grace and at the same time, cast our eyes on Him so that we find inspiration from Him to act and live in such a manner. Let us pray with the psalmist, “O Lord, my heart is not proud or haughty my eyes. I have not gone after things too great nor marvels beyond me. Truly I have set my soul in silence and peace. A weaned child on its mother’s breast, even so is my soul. Keep my soul in peace before you, O Lord.”