When Jesus had washed the disciples' feet, he said to them:
"Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master
nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him.
If you understand this, blessed are you if you do it.
I am not speaking of all of you.
I know those whom I have chosen.
But so that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
The one who ate my food has raised his heel against me.From now on I am telling you before it happens,
so that when it happens you may believe that I AM.
Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send
receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me."
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Your daily Gospel reflection...
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Friends,
in today’s Gospel passage, Jesus pointedly calls us to humble behavior.
“Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master nor any
messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you understand this, blessed are you if you do it.”
St.
Catherine of Siena once heard the Lord say to her, “Remember that I am
and you are not.” And St. Paul said, “What do you have that you have not
received? So why do you boast?”
To
believe in God is to know these truths. To live them out is to live in
the attitude of humility. Thomas Aquinas said that humility is truth. It
is living out the deepest truth of things: God is God, and we are not.
Now
all of this sounds very clear when it’s stated in this abstract manner,
but we know how hard it is to live out! In our fallen
world, we forget so readily that we are creatures, that we have been
made from nothing. Then our egos begin to inflate: “I am. I want. I
expect. I demand.” The ego becomes a massive monkey on our backs, and it
has to be fed and pampered constantly.
That’s why today’s Gospel is so important. We are only messengers, not greater than the Master.
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