Humility and the Order of God
Summary of Headings
- Understanding the Parable
- The Essence of Humility
- Seeing Ourselves as God Sees Us
- Acceptance and Submission
- The Role of Charity
- Aligning with God's Will
Understanding the Parable
Whenever we read this Gospel and hear this parable of our Lord, the automatic interpretation that we can think of is, of course, well, this is a sort of explanation of why God allows evil to have its way in the world. This is why God allows things to happen in the world. This is why... good men suffer and bad men get ahead. This is why so much suffering is going on in the world right now. And it applies easily to our time in our time of history. As a result, it's easy for us to, if you will, to use this as kind of a way to rationalize what is going on in the world today, and to try to explain it away.
The Essence of Humility
But the fact of the matter is that's a very dangerous thing to do. That's not what our job is supposed to be. We are not supposed to be the ones who explain away anything. We're not the ones who are supposed to try to understand the plan of God or the history of the world or the history of good and evil or anything. We are supposed to be able to just do the simplest, basic thing, which is to know, love, and serve God and this world, to be happy with Him in the next. We are also supposed to do our level best to save our souls and then our level best to save souls of those around us.
and we are supposed to do so with all the love in our hearts possible. But that is a lot that we are supposed to be doing. So let's boil it back down to the most basic thing. What is the first thing that we are supposed to do? We are supposed to know, love, and serve God. But before we can even do that, we have to understand who we are and what it is we are supposed to be doing here. We have to go back to the most basic and most fundamental aspects of our relationship with God. Who am I? This is the core question of this virtue of humility. Because charity and humility are intrinsically bound.
They cannot be separated between us. If we do not have humility, we cannot have charity.
Seeing Ourselves as God Sees Us
And if we have charity, it means that we are naturally humble. So we have... We have to focus on the virtue of humility. And many times we think of humility as choosing the last place. Making ourselves lower than everybody else. Speaking badly about ourselves. But the virtue of humility is more than that. And it's not so simplistic. As no virtue, of course, is. The virtue of humility is quite simply being able to see ourselves for who we really are. Or, in other words, to see ourselves as our Lord Jesus Christ himself sees us. The reality of the situation. Not simply what we present it to be.
What everybody else sees it to be. Not everybody else's judgment of ourselves. Not the world's judgment of ourselves. Not our own judgment of ourselves. But God's judgment of ourselves. How can we possibly know that? Well, first and foremost, we can start listening to God instead of to ourselves. Or to the world. Or to those around us. We can actually get to know God better. Through prayer. Through meditation. But humility is just simply knowing ourselves as we really are. As God himself sees us. Whenever we present ourselves to anything. Whenever we do anything. Whenever we look upon ourselves.
We always do so through a specific lens. We wear a mask for the rest of the world. So no one ever gets to see who we really are on the inside. We present ourselves according to what we think. The rest of the world wants to see in us. That's why we hold certain positions. Why we follow a certain crowd. Why we try to conform with certain groups. Etc. Because there's a natural part of ourselves that does not want anybody to see who we really are. Because who we really are isn't that outstanding. Isn't that extraordinary. In and of itself, we are nothing. We are creatures.
We are creatures who are wholly and completely dependent upon God for everything. We could not do a thing. We could not even think his name. If it weren't by his very power. The power that he gives us to do so. We could not exist. Our existence depends upon God every instant that we are. This makes us nothing in effect. In reality. Because we are nothing by ourselves. We could be any number of things by the grace of God. Great saints. Powerful figures. Important people in history. But by his grace. By his power. By his virtue. By nothing else. But in and of ourselves, we are nothing.
And we desperately don't want anybody else to see that. And we don't want to see that for ourselves either. So we cover ourselves up with masks. And we hide ourselves away behind. And we look upon ourselves through eyeglasses. Like in the book, The Wizard of Oz. The Emerald City. Everything is already green. But everybody wears green glasses. To remind everybody that everybody is green. Because you wouldn't accept the reality if you didn't have those glasses. We force ourselves to believe the illusion that we present for ourselves and for the rest of the world. Believing somehow that that is what reality truly is.
And that's one of the reasons why the world is so very desperate to get rid of God. Because they don't like reality. Humility is necessary for us to be able to go to the very next step in this whole equation.
Acceptance and Submission
Which is acceptance. Knowing that we are nothing. Knowing that we rely on God for everything. And that everything comes from him. Means, by our very essence, that we also will accept things from him. So when we have to confront the reality of the world we see around us today. Where we have so little power to be able to change anything. We have one of two reactions. Human reactions. One is the big bravado speech. We convince ourselves that we can do something. We convince ourselves that we are more important than we really are. We convince ourselves that actually we can make a difference.
And then the other hand is to just give up on everything. And to wash our hands of everything. And we miss the entire point of humility. Which is when we look upon the situation in the world. When we look upon all the evils around us. When we look upon ourselves. We recognize a very simple fact. None of this is in my hands except by the grace of God. I can do nothing about this except by the grace of God. As a matter of fact, nothing can be except by the grace of God. And when we recognize that, all of a sudden, all the noise and chaos, fear, confusion, etc.
Disappear. Because everything is in the hands of God. Now that's not very convenient. It's not very convenient for the world. The world wants us to be scared and confused and upset. So it doesn't want us to reflect on the fact of humility. But on top of that, it's also not very convenient for us and our self illusions. Of hiding away thinking that we have nothing to do with anything because I can't change anything. Or the fact that I can change all things. I can just do things if only I had something else. I could do any number of things. I could turn this world around.
Both are lies. Because we can do tremendous good in this world. We can save souls in this world. We can do so much good in this world. But only by virtue of God. Only by submitting ourselves to the reality of God. Only that way. And only that way can we actually change lives. Change the world and ourselves included. Only this way can we actually save souls. And our own included. But we have to be willing to rip off the band -aid and actually look upon ourselves as we really are. Look upon the situation as it really is. We are not competent to judge the situation in the world.
We are not competent to pass judgment on God's plan. We are not competent to be able to say what is good, what is bad, what is right, what is wrong, what is up, what is down. God is the one who establishes all of those things. God is the only one who can establish all of those things. That is why any law that attempts to abrogate natural law is no law. It does not exist. It is an oxymoron. A contradiction in terms. Because it cannot be a law when it goes against the law. It goes against divine law. And that is why anything that we do to try to push against the will of God is pure folly.
That is why it is necessary that we submit. We cannot do so until we learn humility. But the first thing we do when we learn humility is to submit ourselves voluntarily to the order that God has created. Which, unfortunately, necessitates the situation we are in. God has us in this situation and this world with these kinds of situations, with politics and the church and everything else, all the bad actors in the world. God has put us in this position because this is where he wants us to work out our salvation and the salvation of others. And to work for the salvation of others.
This is where he wants us to work. This is the theater in which we are supposed to act out the play of our lives. Not another time period, not another place, not another group of people. This is it. And so therefore this is what we have to work with and therefore our trust should be absolutely in God. Not in the world, not in ourselves. Not in special remedies for X, Y, and Z. But in God and God alone. There is no magic bullet to save a life. There is no magic bullet to save a soul. There is no magic bullet to save the world. There is a God and only God.
So first we have humility. To look behind the mask of everything and see the crude reality of what everything is. Ourselves included. And when we see that, the next step is submission. To accept that this is how it must be because that is how it is. And work within that. That reality. And the third, the very natural thing after that, after that submission, is charity.
The Role of Charity
The element of submission that makes it virtuous is sacrifice. We don't just submit ourselves out of weakness. We don't submit ourselves because we're incapable of doing anything else. Of course we are incapable of doing anything else that would actually matter. But we submit ourselves out of love for God. We submit ourselves because this is the order that he created and so we could not possibly desire any other. We shouldn't ever even think about desiring a different order, a different world, a different situation. But rather embracing it as it is. We choose to accept what God gives us.
We don't have much of a choice. But we choose to voluntarily accept it and embrace it rather than to fight back against it or to try to fight the system. Because that will never work. It's an exercise in futility. So we submit ourselves as an act of sacrifice because we choose to love God above all things. Even above ourselves. We choose to love him above everything. Everything else. I can say even especially above ourselves. He is the only thing that matters and we must make that clear to ourselves in the most obvious and most simple way possible. Which is to accept the order that God presents to us.
Not the order we wish it were. Not try to create utopia here on earth. But to try to find perfect happiness in heaven. Through service to him. Through the will of God. Through the will of God. And to make sure that we are the only one who can be loved. Because that is the essence of charity. Charity is choosing God. Charity is choosing to follow the will of God. Charity in the most practical sense is embracing the will of God. At all times and in all possible ways. The epistle of today. Above all things have charity. That is the demand that Saint Paul puts upon all of us.
Above all things. Above everything else that we do. Charity. And charity is the very life of God himself. Because by recognizing the fact that without God we are nothing. We have to recognize the other side of that. When we work in conjunction with God. We are actually all powerful. I can do all things in he who strengthens me. As Saint Paul says. There is nothing that we cannot do. If we are working in conjunction with the will of God. There are no limits because there are no limits to God. So while of our own we can do nothing.
Aligning with God's Will
In God we can do all things. And we must do all things. Because we are here to know him. To love him. And to serve him in all things. We are here to serve him in all things. So that we can be eternally happy with him in heaven. We are here to spread his word. Spread his kingdom. To spread his kingship all around this world. To never let go of any single doctrine. To never let go of any single commandment that he has given to us. To never turn our back on any aspect of the reality that he has given to us. So that we may be able to unite ourselves perfectly to him.
In everything that we do. So that we may be able to understand and appreciate the mystery of the economy of salvation as it is called. So we will be able to serve him and save ourselves day in and day out. Because our salvation is not a single choice. But it's always choosing him in every moment of every day. That is where true charity is. That is where our salvation must lie. So when we think about this mystery of the cockle and the wheat. Let us not think so much about the enemies among us. Let us think about the simple fact that this is the order that God has chosen and allowed for us.
So that we may be able to better serve him. Through humility. And through submission. And we may be able to love his order above any order that we could possibly invent or create. And by doing so embrace his will. And serve him faithfully throughout our lives. That we may be eternally happy with him in heaven. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Summary
The homily begins with a reflection on the parable of the cockle and the wheat, addressing the common interpretation of why God allows evil in the world. The preacher warns against rationalizing these events and emphasizes our primary duty to know, love, and serve God. The sermon then explores the virtue of humility, explaining that true humility involves seeing ourselves as God sees us, rather than through the distorted lenses of self or societal judgment. This understanding is crucial for cultivating charity and aligning with God's will. Finally, the homily calls for acceptance and submission to God's order, highlighting that true charity is found in embracing God's will. By doing so, we can serve Him faithfully and achieve eternal happiness, recognizing that all things are possible through God's strength.