Monday of the 5th Week of Easter
May 4, 2015 8:30am
I am very taken by the example of
Paul and Barnabas in today’s first reading.
They have healed a crippled man
in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Better stated, they are able to
be instruments of God’s healing for this man.
But the people start treating Paul
and Barnabas as gods.
Paul and Barnabas maturely and
wisely resist this.
They say, “We are of the same nature as you, human beings.”
So, they resist adulation and do
not call attention to themselves.
Instead, they declare that they
want to steer everyone to “the living
God, who made heaven and earth and sea and all that is in them.”
So Paul and Barnabas recognize
God’s power and greatness.
They recognize their own humanity
and, in that lies the virtue of humility.
The awareness and acceptance of
our humanity is humility.
What a good lesson this is for
all of us, especially when we receive recognition and acclaim for something.
No matter who we are, no matter
what role we fulfill or what vocation we have or what accomplishments we have
done, we remain human.
We are instruments of God.
We are to be centered not on
ourselves but on God.
There, in God, lies both our real
strength and our truest sense of ourselves as persons.
The recognition of our humanity
is the virtue of humility.
