HUMILITY

Pope Leo XIV celebrated his first Holy Thursday Mass just a few days ago.

He focused his attention on the Gospel of John. Jesus assumes the position of a slave by washing the feet of his apostles:

What the Lords shows us — taking the water, the basin and the towel — is far more than a moral example. He entrusts to us his very way of life (2 April 2026).

Pope Benedict XVI is quoted:

We too must ‘learn repeatedly that God’s greatness is different from our idea of greatness… because we systematically desire a God of success and not of the Passion’ (20 March 2008).

Humility is living – at least trying to live – the way Jesus lived. This is greatness.

Think of the countless opportunities we have each day to be of service to others, making their lives a little easier, putting love into the mundane activities that form the very fabric of our lives.

Yes, the experience of ‘taking the water, the basin and the towel’ is important because as Simon Weil (1909-1943) once said:

We learn about good by doing it. We learn about evil by not doing it.

This is a wisdom for the ages.

AMEN.