Virtue: Humility
Resolution: I choose to honor others above self.

Human Story: Mother Teresa (1910 - 1997)

Shane Claiborne wrote the following after a summer experience in Calcutta:

People often ask me what Mother Teresa was like. Did she glow in the dark or have a halo? She was short, wrinkled, and precious, maybe even a little ornery--like a beautiful, wise old granny.  But there is one thing I will never forget—her feet were deformed. Each morning during Mass, I would stare at those feet. I wondered if Mother Teresa had leprosy. But I wasn’t going to ask, of course. One day a sister asked us, “Have you noticed Mother’s feet? We nodded, curious. She said, “Her feet are deformed because we get just enough donated shoes for everyone, and Mother does not want anyone to get stuck with the worst pair, so she digs through and finds those. Years of wearing bad shoes have deformed her feet.” That is the kind of love that places our neighbors’ needs above our own.

This messenger of God’s love was born on August 27, 1910 in Skopje, Macedonia. She was baptized Anjezë Gonxha. From the day of her First Holy Communion, a love for souls was within her. At the age of eighteen, moved by a desire to become a missionary, Gonxha left her home to join the Sisters of Loreto, in Ireland. There she received the name Sister Mary Teresa after St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Soon after, she departed for Calcutta, India where she would discover her life’s work. Sister Teresa taught at St. Mary’s School for girls in Calcutta for twenty years. In 1946, Mother Teresa received her “inspiration,” her “call within a call” as Jesus’ love for others took hold of her heart and became the driving force in her life. Two years later she dressed in a white, blue bordered sari and passed through the gates of her beloved convent to enter the world of the poor choosing to live in the slums. She visited families, washed the sores of children, cared for an old man lying sick on the road and nursed a woman dying of hunger. She started each day in communion with Jesus and then went out, rosary in her hand, to find and serve Him in “the unwanted, the unloved, the uncared for.”  After some months, she was joined, one by one, by her former students and the Missionaries of Charity was born. 

The whole of Mother Teresa’s life bore witness to the joy of loving. Her actions reflected the greatness and dignity of every human person, the value of little things done faithfully with great love, and the surpassing worth of friendship by God. On September 5, 1997, Mother Teresa’s earthly life came to an end. Fifteen thousand people attended her funeral. Her tomb quickly became a place of pilgrimage and prayer for people of all faiths, rich and poor alike. That same year, Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity numbered nearly 4,000 members and were established in 610 foundations in 123 countries of the world. Mother Teresa left a testament of unshakable faith, invincible hope and extraordinary charity. Her response to Jesus’ plea, “Come be My light,” made her a Missionary of Charity, a “mother to the poor,” a symbol of compassion to the world, and a living witness to the thirsting love of God.  

Humility is the mother of all virtues; purity, charity and obedience. It is in being humble that our love becomes real, devoted and ardent. If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are. If you are blamed you will not be discouraged. If they call you a saint you will not put yourself on a pedestal.  – Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Lesson: Luke 14:7-11 (NIV)

When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: "When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this person your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."

Honor. It is a game humanity has played for ages. We try to gain honor, seeking to be esteemed higher in the eyes of our peers. It is only natural to want others to think highly of us, to be placed on the pedestals of human minds. This was especially so in ancient cultures, much more so than in our world. Honor was more important than life itself. The opposite of honor is shame. When shame came upon an individual or family, it required drastic measures to earn honor back.

Humility is looking to increase the honor of others above the honor of self. Despite humanity’s goal to elevate the self, our text here tells us true honor in the eyes of God is the elevation of the other. Jesus tells us to start low. He tells us right at the beginning, wherever we go, make ourselves the least important person in the room. In 1st century Palestine, when a host would have a party, there was often a “place of honor.”  It would be like the head of the table having an individual sit directly beside them, positioned in a way that those present knew that person was important. It was the most coveted seat. Jesus tells us not to wiggle our way to the front. Stay in the back, behind the scenes, out of view. In doing this, our host will lift us up in His kingdom, which is paradoxical. There may be no earthly fame or recognition, but the consequences of our humble posture will last for eternity.

Remembrance

A prayer for the First Sunday of Advent

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

From the Book of Common Prayer 1976 edition; p. 211

Challenge

Mother Teresa said, “I was to leave the convent and help the poor while living among them. It was an order. To fail would have been to break the faith.” How can you serve “the unwanted, the unloved, the uncared for?” Ask God to show you one specific way to love and serve others during this Advent season.

Reflection

Look back at the photo of Mother Teresa’s feet. What does this image make you feel? What might it be like to choose the worst shoes over and over again?

 What are practical ways we can make ourselves the least important person in the room? What would change if we tried to do this more often?

Further Growth

2021: 2nd Sunday in Advent

Old Testament: Malachi 3:1-5
Psalm: Psalm 126
New Testament: 1 Corinthians 4:1-21
Gospel: Luke 3:1-6

2020: 2nd Sunday in Advent

Old Testament: Isaiah 40:1-11
Psalm: Psalm 85
New Testament: 2 Peter 3:8-18
Gospel: Mark 1:1-8