Carmelite homily for Monday, March 23, 2020 – Lectionary 244 (John 4:43-54)
In today’s Gospel we have a royal official coming to Jesus because his son is ill and asking for healing. This would take quite the step down for a royal official to go to Jesus who the Gospels describe as a carpenter, a laborer, kind of blue-collar. It’s quite the step down. Teresa of Avila writes, “One act of humility is worth more than all the knowledge of the world.” I think that’s the example of today’s Gospel and the call to us. How many times we don’t want to do something because we don’t want to give them the satisfaction? Or they’re supposed to apologize first! Or I’m the aggrieved party! No humility there. I think the call of today’s Gospel is humility. “One act of humility is worth far more than all the knowledge of the world.”
