This week we  saw two priests who serve the archdiocese of Boston well to be elevated to the role of bishop. It was a joyous occasion for many and now they will serve in a parish as well as serve in the role of bishop in the area.

 

However, as much as we can look up to the bishops, it is important for us to also look to some of the ancient teachings in the Church of the role. Especially on this day that another eight priests are being ordained today for Canção Nova.

 

St. John Chrysostom who was also a bishop was critical of not taking the role seriously. He also warned as do most saints that the role of bishop, or priest even, was never to be taken lightly because it comes with an awesome responsibility that if not fulfilled leads one to the bowels of hell. The powerful fourth century saint, in fact, taught that the road to hell is paved with the skulls of bishops. He was not one to mince words. He was also reluctant to take upon the office because he understood how serious it was. Eventually, he submitted to and became the bishop he was requested to be and is known as one of the Church’s most prophetic bishops through time.

 

Another great saint, Jerome, brings up a similar warning that we can look at today. Not all bishops are bishops indeed. You consider Peter; mark Judas as well. You notice Stephen; look also on Nicolas, sentenced in the Apocalypse by the Lord’s own lips, whose shameful imaginations gave rise to the heresy of the Nicolaitans.

 

What is the difference between Peter and Judas. The answer can be found in today’s gospel. It is the virtue of humility.

 

We know that the mother of all sins is pride. Pride is at the base of every sin and it is the first temptation: “You will be like gods.” (Genesis 3) Its polar opposite is humility, it is the mother of all virtues. It is key to the Catholic life and the life of holiness. One cannot be a good Catholic without it.

 

Today’s gospel is one in which Jesus is teaching that virtue. He is warning both guest and host to focus less on greatness and more on serving Christ as whom we are. It is focused on understanding who we truly are and being that person and nothing more.

 

If we do that, we grow in holiness. If we instead seek to be whom we are not, we grow distant from God and ultimately turn away from Him completely. In my experience as priest, I have learned that the more humble a person is, the more he is able to deal with the worst of circumstances, but the more prideful, the more easily he crumbles.

 

Peter was prideful, but he learned humility when he found he was not as courageous as he thought he was and  denied Jesus. Judas was prideful, he was a thief and therefore can also be considered narcissistic to some extent and that narcissism led him to betray Jesus and as is common in such cases to end his life by his own hand refusing to be able to repent and acknowledge his sin.

 

The difference between the two is pride versus humility. The difference between a holy Catholic and a hypocritical Catholic is pride versus humility. This is the point of the first reading which is the backdrop for the gospel. One of the reasons for the crisis in the Church is not bad bishops but bishops that humbly did not comprehend the truth of evil in the crisis nor in those, secular people in the political process, who promote it to this day. Remember those who used the crisis to bring down the Church did so praising Lucifer. They pridefully stand in the kingdom of evil and few leaders in the Church acknowledge that.

 

Notice in the gospel Jesus teaches out of seeing the invited seek the most honorable places. He tells them as we know to seek the least honorable places and wait to be invited up or  they will be told to move to a lower place.

 

The concept of seeking honors and recognition is not a bad thing it all, but when they inflate our sense of who we truly are, it can become poison to our spiritual life. When we listen to Christ and acknowledge who we truly are, then we have room for Christ in our lives.

 

Take the mechanic. He may be a great mechanic, he may be the greatest mechanic and may teach others from all over the area how to be better at what they do. But if he lets all that go to his head, then these honors will spill over the rest of his life. He may be a great mechanic, but that does not mean he is a good Catholic. They are two different things. The great mechanic may realize he could be a better Catholic and so he avails himself regularly to confession, he is a man of prayer and realizes he can neither be a good mechanic nor father if he does not humble himself before the heavenly father. He has to come to terms with the fact he is not a saint, yet and needs all help heaven affords us to get there. He has to come to terms with his humanity, his sinfulness, his imperfections, as well as his successes. However, as in the parable, when he does this, it is then that God welcomes Him into a deeper relationship with him. Then he is even a greater mechanic for he will see his doing the best work as a service to God regardless of how much money he makes. He will known as the great mechanic who is such a good man.

 

There is a similar story of the priest who was persecuted in Stalin’s Soviet Union: Fr. Walter Czizek, SJ. he was forced into slave labor in the Siberian GULAGs. His slave was to build houses so he chose to do the best at his job. Why? Because he saw himself serving God and not the Soviets. He conformed himself to God’s will and did powerful things for him in one of the worst places on Earth: The Siberian GULAGs. His humility lead him to be a great carpenter and a greater Catholic priest.

 

St Paul explains in second Corinthians that he suffered what the saints tell us are terrible temptations and even falls in his quest to holiness. He teaches that God allows this in his life that he might not become prideful because of his great revelations and mystical experiences. So he deals with his weaknesses as those things that keep him humble and grounded. Without them he would allow his greatness to go to his head and he would talk a good game, but be far from God.

 

Keep in mind a simple teaching, all the great saints had to acknowledge their sinfulness or they would never have been great saints. All the great saints had to go to confession or they would never have been great saints. Dorothy Day whom the Pope spoke about to the US Congress went to confession every week. She was a powerful Catholic social reformer, but was deeply involved in seeking holiness. Her favorite book, by the way, was The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A. Kempis. When people told her that she was a saint she responded: “Do  not dismiss me so quickly.”

 

So, keep in mind, it is not the person who considers himself great who finds God, but the one who evaluates himself correctly and seeks  the virtue of humility. He seeks to be what God wants him to be and nothing more and regularly goes to confession when he realizes he fails in his mission. However, such a person ends up in Heaven whereas the one who rests on his laurels or allows pride to make him wise in his own estimation never sees the inside of the gates of Heaven. As. St. Jerome warns us and especially our bishops: be aware of  the difference between Peter and Judas. The difference is humility.  

God Bless you,

Fr. Robert J Carr

Fr. Carr is member of the Segundo Elo  of the Canção Nova Community. He is the pastor of Holy Trinity Quincy, MA and is the editor of this blog. He is the author of several books, blogs and hundreds of videos all of which you may find on Youtube.  You can follow him on twitter as @frbobcarr and on Google plus as+FrRobertCarr. Thoughts, comments on the homily? Let us know at Facebook