“For I am meek and humble
of heart.” – Mt. 11:28
How often have you thought of
God as humble?
I must say that this had not
been a prayer or thought of mine until quite recently in my life. To think of
God as humble seemed to be farthest from what I had been taught about God. So
often I was given images of God as Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient, Omni
[insert word here]. For much of my life God has seemed “out there” somewhere
with a bunch of expectations for my life. Sure, images of Jesus on the cross
always spoke to me of a certain type of humility, but more than anything the
image on the cross was an image of some grand cosmic sacrifice that forced me
to feel shame for my sins. I couldn’t truly relate to the Jesus hanging on the
cross. I admired him and shook my head at the Great Mystery of it all, but I
didn’t know how to be his friend.
“God, are you there?” This
may be the question I have asked God more than any other. But let’s take a
moment to think about this question. What kind of God would create a universe,
a state of being, where a conscious being would even get to the point of asking
that question? How could that God put up with an entire species questioning
God’s existence? What kind of God would create a universe where there is space
for God to be absent and invisible (what we call “evil”)? What kind of God
would create a universe where there seems to be so much suffering? I only have
one answer: that God must be the most humble and meek thing we could ever
imagine.
Ultimately, this is the
relationship the Lord invites us to this Advent as we anticipate the face of
the Incarnation appearing in a helpless baby. In today’s gospel, it’s as if
Jesus is saying, “Look at my humanity. I have chosen not to be all-powerful
because I want a relationship with you. I have no expectations for you. Just
come to me and we can be friends.”
Let us spend some quiet moments today letting the deep
humility of our God soak into our hearts as we rest in God’s friendship.
Tony Cortese
Tony Cortese
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