Saturday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time
The Gospel passage today prompts us to consider the reality of our own lowliness. This is not a practice that contemporary culture typically promotes and superficially might feel uncomfortable or might seem antithetical to the pursuit of “real” accomplishment o achievement in earthly life. Nonetheless, the consideration of our own personal littleness should, in fact, be a source of great joy and tremendous consolation.
We are not the source of our being. We did not create ourselves. The reality of human existence is that we cannot sustain our own lives for even a moment of our own accord. Everything that we have, every breath, every heartbeat, every talent, every ability, and our very bodies and souls were given to us by God. All things are held and sustained in existence moment to moment in the vast infinitude of his immense, passionate love of God. Everything.
The joy of this realization comes from the recognition that God can and will do everything for us if we let him. We don’t have to try to do everything on our own. The outcomes of our endeavors in this life are not really in our hands. The burdens do not rest wholly on our shoulders. We certainly must exercise our wills properly and cooperate with God because He gives us the freedom to choose. But all things are in the hands of God who loves us tremendously and desires relationship with each and every one of us personally. And that is a very good, very beautiful, and very wonderful fact that should fill our hearts with light, rest, and joy.