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Humility: Key to God’s Heart

29th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year C

There is one judge—the greatest and most just judge—about whom we often forget: God. Every day we stand before Him and plead our cause. Maybe you are feeling sick and want to get better, so you pray, “Lord, please heal me.” Perhaps you are a parent who has a difficult child, so you pray, “Lord, please help my child.” Each day we come before the Lord and plead our cause, asking Him to help us, to make a decision, to show us the way. And, as Jesus reveals in the Gospel, the secret to being heard by God is the virtue of humility.

In her persistence, the widow of this Sunday’s Gospel was humble. She did not demand. She did not expect or exercise her rights to a fair trial. Instead, she humbly persisted, trusting with faith that the judge would decide her case.

As Jesus reveals in the Gospel, humility is the key to
God’s heart. It opens the doors to His goodness.

But humility requires that we have faith in God’s goodness; faith that He will respond; and faith that He will provide what is best for us.

If we are honest with ourselves, then we will acknowledge that we need more humility and faith. Perhaps this is the reason why Jesus says with a note of sadness: “But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” It is my hope that, when he comes again, Jesus will find faith on the earth—faith in you, the parishioners of Our Lady of the Wayside parish. I would like to invite you to humbly ask God for the gift of faith every day. Do not hesitate to stand before Him to plead your cause through prayer, trusting that the Good and Just Judge will render you a decision flowing from His Love for you.

Yours in Christ,
Father Arthur

Readings for the twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Lectionary 147.