Humbleness is living of the Gospel in its purest form
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Father Perry D. Leiker, pastor.
“Looking Ahead” is our weekly reflection on the Sunday readings, edited by Father Perry. This week, we celebrate the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
By Father Perry D. Leiker, pastor
The scriptures frequently speak of the theme of wisdom which comes from above. One way of describing wisdom is that it is seeing things with the eyes of God. Perhaps this is not a very exact definition, but it certainly gives insight as to what happens to one who looks at life with wisdom. That person begins to see different depths of meaning, discovers new calls and invitations, and certainly acts and lives differently. So to hear that one might respond to violence and treachery with forgiveness and surrender makes no sense, unless one is seeing this through the eyes of wisdom.
Non-violence, a teaching completely absorbed by the likes of Gandhi and MartinLutherKingJr., is wisdom-teaching. It is a call to not react to violence with more violence, but to go deeper and more profoundly to a place of peace and acceptance so that complete victory is “won” through the absorbing and then transforming of the violence.
It doesn’t just make sense, it makes perfect sense. It is the way of Jesus. It is the way of the cross. It is the way of the Christian. It is also the foundational message espoused by Jesus today in the Gospel —
“If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”
Service and placing others before us is a “living of the Gospel” in its purest form — a true reflection of Jesus the Christ.
Quote of the week | 💭 “Spiritual life is like living water that springs up from the very depths of our own spiritual experience. In spiritual life everyone has to drink from his or her own well.” — St. Bernard of Clairvaux.
