Example of Humility

Gospel Reflection for February 19, 2025

Christ, Model of Humility. Courtesy of St. John Vianny Lay Division

“When Jesus and his disciples arrived at Bethsaida, people brought to him a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village.” Mark 7:22-23

In today’s Gospel, we hear that Our Lord went to the town of Bethsaida and encountered a blind man. Not much detail is given about this man except that he was blind, and the people put him before the Lord to be healed. Our Lord does a very curious thing, Mark relays that He took him by the hand and led him outside of Bethsaida. Our Lord sought to take this man away from the crowds to heal him.

Very simply, I want to reflect on this movement of humility in Our Lord. He certainly knew the sign that He was about to accomplish. Mark goes on to say that the man is healed of his blindness and is able to see. Being God, Our Lord has a perfect knowledge of what He was about to do and certainly could have done it in the sight of the people, perhaps to allow them to believe in Him.

Interestingly, though, He takes the blind man outside the village and heals him there. This is a reminder to us that even when we are doing great work, we must never seek the praise of man. Our Lord deserved all the praise that could be given. But, instead, He went away from the people and did this great sign in private. This is how we should act as well. Humility is the foundation of the interior life. It is truly the root of the tree that is the spiritual life. If our spiritual life is a tree that stretches upward toward union with God, the roots must be even lower than the tallest part of the tree. We must lay ourselves low in order to stretch up to God.

We should not seek the praise of man. We must seek to please God above all things so as to be found worthy to be with Him in the end.