A Humble God

Saturday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time C-2

Entrance Antiphon Cf. Est 4:17 Within your will, O Lord, all things are established, and there is none that can resist your will. For you have made all things, the heaven and the earth, and all that is held within the circle of heaven; you are the Lord of all.

Collect Almighty ever‑living God, who in the abundance of your kindness surpass the merits and the desires of those who entreat you, pour out your mercy upon us to pardon what conscience dreads and to give what prayer does not dare to ask. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever

Scripture today: Galatians 3:22-29; Psalm 104; Luke 11:27-28

As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you. He replied, Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it. (Luke 11:27-28)

A Humble God It is a fascinating exercise to compare the images of God that drive the various religions and philosophies of man. A great breakthrough occurred in Greek religious thought when, amid the plethora of mythic figures in Greek religion, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle forged their notions of God. Aristotle, reacting against Plato’s ideas as the ultimate principles of Being, and beginning with Act and Potency as principles in all beings with the exception of the supreme Cause, arrived at describing this First Cause as Pure Act. Aristotle’s theodicy had considerable influence on later Jewish philosophers, and was powerfully employed and taken to new heights by Aquinas. The noted modern philosopher, Alvin Carl Plantinga, regards Aquinas as of greater philosophical power than Aristotle. However, when all is said and done, what are we left with in, say, the Aristotelian image of God? Profoundly insightful as it is, the God of Aristotle’s system is exalted, yet remote. As Newman once said, it is a principle rather than a living person with whom man can relate — and I would say that it is precisely this that was left behind in the wholesome leap from Greek religion to Greek philosophy. The solution to the difficulty is attained in the integration of Judaeo-Christian revelation with the best of philosophy, as in Socrates, Plato and especially Aristotle. Newman, having said that the religion of classical philosophy is focussed more on a principle rather than a person, has divine revelation bringing before man a living, speaking, identifiable Person — or rather, of course, three Persons in the one divine Being. But now — and this is the point — what is our image of the divine Persons thus revealed? A striking feature of the God of Revelation is that he is humble. We are speaking here of the One whom Aquinas identifies as Actus Purus, Pure Act, understood as the Act of Being. He transcends all else absolutely. He reveals himself to be humble, most humble, and asks that his creatures imitate him in his humility. Indeed, he says that if we do not, that if we exalt ourselves, we shall be humbled.

I say all this as an introduction to our Gospel passage today, which offers yet another instance of the humility of God the Son become man. There he stands! Gaze upon him, him who is the pearl of our race! This Man before us, in all his human individuality and therefore limitation, is the Pure Being who sustains all that there is. In him dwells the fulness of the godhead bodily. All that God is, this Man is. He is the Word of the Father, his only-begotten Son, his Image, his Fulness, while being a distinct Person from the Father. His splendour is veiled — while being revealed — by his humanity, and yet something of it cannot but be seen by observers who see and hear him. Thus it is that “as Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you” (Luke 11:27-28). She was giving utterance to the admiration and love that filled her heart on seeing and hearing him. What a wonder this Man was! It is the worry of every good mother that her children turn out well, and above all, morally good. The good mother grieves if she sees her child deteriorating in his or her moral life, however successful her child may be materially and financially. How blessed then, the woman of our Gospel passage thought, was the mother of this Man before her! Her praise of Mary was in the first instance, praise of her Son. But now, notice how our Lord deflects the praise away, in effect from himself, to a more universal principle which, of course, applied in the first instance to his mother. Do not think of the blessedness of having me for a son, he replies. Think rather of the blessedness of hearing the word of God and putting it into practice. Many things are revealed in this. The words of the woman in the crowd show forth Christ’s own greatness. They praise the greatness of his mother, and Christ’s reply identifies her fundamental grandeur. They set forth the path to be followed by all. But — and this is the point of this reflection — they also show the humility of God, in Christ turning the focus of praise away from himself.

Our Lord invites us to come to him and to learn from him. “Come to me, all you that labour and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). “He who sees me, sees the Father,” our Lord said to his disciples. So Christ reveals the heart of God. God has a heart that is meek and humble. The Father is humble, as is Christ. Their life in communion is the Holy Spirit — so the Holy Spirit is humble. Humility reigns supreme in the heart of the triune God. Let us strive to be humble, then, in the likeness of Jesus Christ!

(E.J.Tyler)

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A Second Reflection (Galatians 3:22-29; Luke 11:27-28)

Christ or Sin St Paul sets a stark picture of the entire visible reality. He says that "Scripture makes no exceptions when it says that sin is master everywhere" — all are under sin (Galatians 3: 22). This is the hidden force behind the world as we see it. It is not the only force, as he will point out, but it is the great factor we must take into account if we are to understand our world and our situation. There is a tyrant at work, and it is sin. It is a force that fights against the Lord and Master who is God. The greater power is Christ, and he is the answer to the world's condition. Through our baptism we are "in Christ" and are "clothed in Christ" and are "belonging to Christ" (Galatians 3: 28-29). Thus we are heirs to all that God has promised and are able to overcome the tyrant which is sin.

Let us make our choice every day for Christ our Master. There is this great choice to be made and to be lived out: either Christ, or sin and all that leads to sin. We choose Christ when we resolve to "hear the word of God and keep it" (Luke 11:28).

(E.J.Tyler)

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