Overview:

Saturday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time

A Reflection for Saturday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time

“Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.” (Lk 10:23)

Find today’s readings here.

Humility is often described as the foundation of all other virtues. I often chuckle to myself when to be humble is equated with being like a child. Small, sure. Not yet learned, maybe. But I also know plenty of kids who happily and sweetly announce to the world they will be the next MLB star, Hollywood actor or most inventive scientist. And they should! Their confidence is often rooted in a willingness to take risks, rooted in feeling loved and supported, not in a search for power, wealth and fame. 

The disciples have been given great understanding and vision, but with such understanding comes a unique kind of power: “I have given you the power ‘to tread upon serpents’ and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you,” Jesus says. He warns them not to be consumed by that power, but rather to rejoice because their “names are written in heaven.”

When Jesus says his message has been revealed “to the childlike,” I imagine people who embody the sort of confidence that seeks to bring about the most joy, the truest outcomes, the collective good. 

Too many leaders today seem consumed by a love of power, a fear of losing that power, a desire to use their power to vanquish a so-called enemy or tread upon others with no repercussions. But this Gospel reminds us that true power begins with humility. Living like Christ does not mean becoming untouchable, but rather making oneself vulnerable, open. It requires taking a long view, rather than banking on an immediate impact. It requires action, contemplation and eyes willing to see the true nature of our society’s struggles. Perhaps most importantly, it requires us to recognize the Truth that unites us.

Kerry Weber joined the staff of America in October 2009. Her writing and multimedia work have since earned several awards from the Catholic Press Association, and in 2013 she reported from Rwanda as a recipient of Catholic Relief Services' Egan Journalism Fellowship. Kerry is the author of Mercy in the City: How to Feed the Hungry, Give Drink to the Thirsty, Visit the Imprisoned, and Keep Your Day Job (Loyola Press) and Keeping the Faith: Prayers for College Students (Twenty-Third Publications). A graduate of Providence College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, she has previously worked as an editor for Catholic Digest, a local reporter, a diocesan television producer, and as a special-education teacher on the Navajo reservation in Arizona.