Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Stay Humble and Kind

How do you understand humility? According to the dictionary, humility is “the quality or state of not thinking you are better than other people.” The word humility is derived from humilis, which means lowly—literally on the ground—and from the Latin humus which means earth.

I’d like to think of humility as meaning “down to earth.” And down to earth suggests real “grounding” or connectedness to the essence of what gives life. For me, humility is recognizing that every good in myself is a gift from God and is meant to be given back to the Lord by being shared with others.

Our coming together, our gathering for Eucharist is an opportunity to name our gifts and to say, “Thank you, Lord!” It is also an opportunity to name our limitations and to say, “Teach me, Lord.”

Grounding ourselves in humility is acknowledging our gifts, owning our limitations, and mingling with all people. Who will you choose to “mingle with” who is not already someone you share life with? What can you do to become more grounded and more connected with others?