Daily Gospel Reflection

Discover Profound Humility

Hi, I'm Matthew Kelly and welcome back to Radical & Relevant, where each day we reflect on the gospel, looking for a word, phrase, or an idea that jumps out at us that the holy spirit uses to capture our attention so that we can anchor our day in the Gospel. Today's reading is from the Gospel of Luke 2: 36-40, "There was a prophetess named Anna, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher. She was of great age, having lived with her husband seven years from her virginity, and as a widow till she was 84. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer day and night. And coming up at the very hour, she gave thanks to God and spoke of him to all who were looking for the redemption of Israel. And when they had performed everything according to the law, they returned into Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him."

What jumps out at you today? So we've got Joseph and Mary have taken Jesus to the temple to present him according to the law of Moses. Just as any Jewish couple would have taken their child to present him to God as the law prescribed. And what I find fascinating here, what I find just overwhelmingly beautiful, is that here we have the son of God, here we have the Messiah, here we have God himself become man. And Joseph and Mary, they still are living by the law. They're not saying, "We're special. Here's the exception." And how often do we do that? How often do we say, "Well, that rule doesn't apply to me," or, "That law doesn't apply to me." And we might be tempted to think we don't do that, but the reality is, "Do you speed?" "Yeah." "Only sometimes maybe?" "Yeah." "When? You have good reason to?"

Okay, but what are we essentially saying? That, "Right now, in this instance, that doesn't apply to me. I'm only going five over. I'm only going 10 over," or whatever it is. And we do it more than we think we probably do, where we say, "That rule doesn't apply to me." Now, we might not say, "That rule doesn't apply to me." We've justified in our minds in some way. We probably don't say, "Hey, I'm special. I'm an exception to the rule." Probably none of us-- that arrogant or completely narcissistic. But what our actions are saying is that that's what we are saying. And here you have Joseph and Mary. If anyone was ever an exception to the rule, it was Jesus. And yet there's this profound humility in them, and they say, "Nope, we're not going to-- we're not going to travel that path. We are going to follow the law." And so they've taken Jesus to the temple and have presented him. And it's a profound humility. Profound humility. And that's what jumps out at me today. So each day we say a word or phrase or an idea. Today, for me, it's an idea. It might be a word for you. It may be a phrase for you, but today it's that idea of this profound humility of following the ladder of the law, of following God's rules, God's guidance, God's perspective, God's way. It's a beautiful thing. Have a great day and remember, be bold, be Catholic.