‘There is glory in humility’

As Jesus’ disciples, we must be humble with others – especially the poor, Bishop Martin preaches on Palm Sunday

CHARLOTTE — We are called to be humble like Jesus – reverencing His humility not just in worship but in our encounters with others, especially the poor, Bishop Michael Martin preached on Palm Sunday.

Palm Sunday marks the start of Holy Week, which commemorates Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem, His suffering and death on a cross, ultimately concluding with His resurrection on Easter Sunday.

Bishop Martin presided over Palm Sunday Mass at St. Patrick Cathedral, blessing palm branches outside at the Marian Grotto and leading a joyful procession of people into the cathedral where the Gospel of the Passion was proclaimed. It was his first Palm Sunday liturgy since becoming Bishop of Charlotte, and the cathedral was filled with worshipers.

The Gospel for Palm Sunday (Luke 22:14-23:56) describes the crowds of people cheering and waving palm branches – symbols of joy and victory – as Jesus entered Jerusalem in triumph.

However, unlike rulers of the time, the Son of God rode into the holy city on a small colt, Bishop Martin noted, not on “some massive beast that would indicate His grandeur, that would tell everyone that He was Lord and King.”

Rather than showing His glory in worldly ways, Jesus’ glory is His humility, the bishop said. Jesus humbled Himself to save us – He was arrested, tortured and crucified, giving up His life – and we are called to demonstrate that same sacrificial humility as His disciples.

“There is glory in humility,” the bishop emphasized, asking the congregation to repeat that phrase several times during his homily.

“As we proclaim His passion and death, we kneel down, we kneel in honor and reverence of the God who is glorified in humility,” he said.

Reverence to God in our worship is good, Bishop Martin said, yet it is not enough.

“That same act of humility needs to be found as much, if not more, out there,” he said, gesturing to the door.

“We need to be looking for and appreciating the glory of humility out in the world,” he said. “For every act of reverence in this church, there should be at least two, or 10, or a thousand acts of reverence out there in the world.”

“If our acts of reverence and humility right here don’t lead us to see the glory of God in humility out there, there is a wicked disconnect in our hearts, and our acts of reverence here are shallow,” the bishop said. “The same way, the same shallowness, as those who threw their branches in honor of the Lord on Sunday and then ran like rats off a sinking ship on Friday.”

“My brothers and sisters,” he continued, “where is the glory of God in humility out there?

“It’s in your house, it’s in your home, it’s when you bite your tongue and don’t say what you really want to say to your spouse, when you let go of being right, when you willingly give up what you want for the sake of your children, when you do the difficult thing that is so absolutely the antithesis of glory…, when you go to work and give it your all even when you don't feel like giving it your all, when you humble yourself before a project greater than you or your desires.”

Yet, more than that, the bishop said, we must have a reverence for “the poor and the marginalized – the truly humble in our world.”

“If we cannot bow before them, reverence God's glory in them by serving them – which we're called to do in today’s Gospel, it … just absolutely hollows out our acts of reverence in here,” he said.

“Praise God that we’ve come here today to witness His glory and to humble ourselves,” he said. “May we continue to praise God by giving Him glory, by reverencing His humility out there.”

— Patricia L. Guilfoyle. Photos by Aidan Creter and Liz Chandler.