According
to a study conducted by the State University of New York at Buffalo and
published in the Academy of Management
Journal, researchers concluded the following statement: Leaders that were humble were more effective and better
liked (https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111208173643.htm).
QUOTE
“Leaders of all ranks view admitting mistakes, spotlighting follower strengths
and modeling teachability as being at the core of humble leadership” END QUOTEThese three behaviors were powerful
predictors of their own as well as their organization’s growth.
"Growing
and learning often involves failure and can be embarrassing.But leaders who can overcome their fears and
broadcast their feelings as they work through the messy internal growth process
will be viewed more favorably by their followers.”
The
researchers found that such leaders model how to be effectively human rather than superhuman.Researcher say that we can't fake
humility. One either genuinely wants to grow and develop, or you don't, and
followers pick up on this.
In
others words, to use human wisdom: just
be your beautiful self.Don’t
pretend to be someone that you’re not.People can see through it.Humility is the truth.
So
as you can see, dear brothers and sisters, even secular studies, worldly wisdom
and non-religious leadership theory see the value of humility.Humility is a strength, not a weakness.
So
what’s humility in heavenly wisdom?
In
today’s Gospel, Our Lord said, “For everyone who exalts himself will be
humbled, but the onle who humbles himself will be exalted.”But please note something unique here.He didn’t just give us research studies on
humility.It wasn’t just a nice little
platitude or cozy statement.
He
himself is the source of humility.Jesus Christ did not just teach it or model it—he is the virtue of
humility itself.He’s not just one
religious leader among many, like Gandhi or Socrates, but he himself is THE
reason why human beings are holy.Christ
isn’t just one of the ways to the Father, he is THE way to the Father.The saints draw their humility from Him.
As
we heard in our Gospel acclamation, Jesus said, “Learn from me, for I am meek
and humble of heart.”
[When
he taught the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the poor in spirit….” He showed that he
himself is not high in spirit like a hot a hot air balloon but rather is meek
and lowly in spirit.”]
He
was humbled for only a time and season, only to be raised from the dead for
us.Jesus came down to earth to endure
all humiliation that can ever be endured from creation of the world and the
fall of Adam to the end of the world through his sacred Passion and death on
the Cross, so that we can endure any humiliation in life.
The Catechism
of the Catholic Church describes humility in this way: "The virtue by
which a Christian acknowledges that God is the author of all good. Humility
avoids inordinate ambition or pride, and provides the foundation for turning to
God in prayer (No. 2559).The Catechism
connects humility and having a prayer life.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI tells us:
"Humility recognizes God as he is. Humility and trust are what make a
person truly human" (Magnifacat, September 2007, pg. 41).
Pope Francis said, “The world tell us to seek
success, power, and money; God tells us to seek humility, service and love”.
The
great Protestant writer C.S. Lewis wrote, “humility isn’t thinking less of
yourself, it is thinking of your self less.”I’ll repeat that: Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself, it is
thinking of your self less.”
And here are some quotes for reflection from the lives
of the saints.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who will be canonized in
September as St. Theresa said, “If you are humble, nothing will touch you,
neither praise or disgrace b/c you know who you are.”
St. Augustine said, “Do you wish to rise?Begin by descending.You plan a tower that will pierce the
clouds?Lay first the foundation of humility.”
Augustine also called humility the foundation of all
the other virtues.
St. Vincent Ferrer, after whom St. Vincent’s Church in
Vallejo is named, taught, “Christ the Master of humility manifests His truth
only to the humble and hides himself from the proud.:
St. Theresa of Avila, the great Doctor of the Church,
taught, “One act of humility is worth more than all the knowledge of the world”
St. Josemaria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei, taught, “Humility
is to the various virtues what the chain is in a rosary.Take away the chain and all the beads
scatter.Remove humility and all the
virtues scatter.”
St. John Vianney taught, “A humble person, whether he
is laughed at or esteemed, or praised or blamed, whether he is honored or
despised, whether people pay attention to him or pass him by.It is all the same to him:
Finally, some practical ways to develop humility.One way is that when someone compliments you
is to acknowledge that the gift comes from God.One can either say something like, “Thank you” or “All glory to God.”
To use a phrase from the streets: “Yo gotta have the
attitude of gratitude, brutha!”
I have these because God made me this way.A humble person says, “I have a nice house,
job or degrees God gave these to me” or “I had help from others.”
In family life, one way to practice humility is to say
“Sorry” and mean it.Not “sorry the
situation evolved like this” or “sorry I got caught” or “sorry that I made you
feel this way.”
The Blessed Mother Mary is the model.Ask Mama Mary to help us with our pride or
arrogance, “Mama Mary, please help me be humble, so that I can be pleasing to
God.”
Let us ponder the words from the First Reading where I
close this homily with the Book of Sirach: “Humble yourself the more, the
greater you are, and you will find favor with God”
On July 27, I requested prayers from my FB friends, and your response was heartfelt. The prayers were for a dying person admitted to the hospital on July 13. Priests came to administer the Last Rites (Confession, Anointing of the Sick, and Viaticum which is final Eucharist). Thank you for your prayers and to the priests who came with little notice. After a month and a half, the person is being released from the hospital today. Thank you, God.
I am reminded of the words... from the Letter of James Ch. 5:13-16 in the Bible: Is there any sick among you. Then let them call the priests of the Church, and they will pray over and anoint with oil in the name of the Lord. The Lord will raise him up and, if he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven. ...The fervent prayers of a righteous person is very powerful.
We've been given the gift of more time with this person. Don't wait until last minute to call for a priest when someone you love may be dying! Thanks again all.
Prayers requested for a serious intention.
(With all due respect, "vibes and thoughts" do not have the power that prayer does. Prayers to God please. Thanks!)
1.) Superman died and knowingly gave up his life for the world, just like Jesus Christ did for the world.
Jesus is both God and man. Superman was both Kryptonian (as Kal-El) and grew up among Earthlings (as Clark Kent). In Christ, the two natures (divine and human) in one person is called the Hypostatic Union.
Superman told Lois Lane before dying for her, "This is my world (too). You are my world." Just as Superman was stabbed by the Doomsday monster, so too Christ was pierced by the sins of all mankind. Jesus is God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God.
There is a scene where Lois Lane held the dead body of Superman on the ground. Both Batman and Wonder Woman stood above them. This is like Mary holding Jesus's dead body after it was lowered from the Cross and holding Jesus's dead body (i.e., the Pieta), while St. John the Beloved Apostle and St. Mary Magdelene stood over Mary and Jesus' dead body.
2.) Just as Lex Luthor (junior) tricked Superman and Batman to fight each other, so too the devil today tricks the superheroes of God, the saints, to fight each other.
This is more true today where, in the words of Bl. Paul VI, the smoke of Satan has entered the Church dramatically pitting bishop against bishop and lay person against lay person, unprecedented in her history.
But just as Batman needed help from Wonder Woman, so too we all need a little help from other each to fight evil.
Just as Bruce Wayne/Batman eventually asked Diana Prince/Wonder Woman to help him gather other superheroes (Flash, Aquaman, etc.) into the Justice League, so too Christ gathers his superheroes into his holy Catholic Church.
The movie's subtitle "Dawn of Justice" means the beginning of the Justice League. Bruce says to Diana, "Help me find the others like you." In real life, a real superhero is a saint.
3.) The movie ends with the burial of Clark Kent/Superman where Lois Lane threw dirt on his coffin. At the very last split second of the movie, some of the dirt that appeared over Clark Kent/Superman's coffin seemed to rise, perhaps a foreshadow of Superman's return. Did you catch that?
Just as Superman's death is not the end of the story, so too Christ's death on the Cross is not the end b/c the Resurrection followed.
Mr. P.'s Grade: solid A for its similarities to Christ, the greatest love story ever told. Cussing and intimacy scenes were not necessary to advance movie plot; remove for an A+.
Click HERE for my other review of the original 1978 Superman movie with Christopher Reeve.
