The roots of the Lenten experience lie in helping us grow in humility. If we wish to be like Christ, then we must learn to become humble like him. Yet, humility usually does not come without a price. Of course, you might be like a friend of mine who regularly states, “My greatest quality is my humility.”
Recently, I experienced a simple lesson of humility in Africa. I have traveled to Nigeria and Kenya six times. When I have returned, I’ve been asked if I have ever gotten sick or had digestive problems. I was always able to respond, “No. Thank God. After all I have a catholic stomach, that is, it is universal; I can eat anything and have no problems.” That was not the case this year. For whatever reason, I had a few more challenges in the area of illness caused by the food I ate. A simple lesson of humility: just when you think you got it, that you are in control, the Lord will humble you. “I can eat anything without problems,” is no longer true.
I am deeply humbled by the faith, the courage, the joy and the desire to serve in the midst of poverty, corruption and discrimination that I witness through those living in both Nigeria and Kenya. Would I be so brave as to leave what is familiar and travel to a place unknown and away from all those I know and love? My answer over 20 years ago was “No.” I explored the Maryknoll Missioners and spent three weeks in Guatemala with them. I enjoyed the experience very much, but reached a conclusion: I did not have the ability to learn another language nor did I wish to be away from my family for three years at a time. (Of course, now I speak Spanish, as do most of our missioners, and find myself traveling more in the last eight years than I could have ever imagined! Just another way, God humbles me by knowing more than I, even about myself.)
The men I interviewed in these countries, however, are willing to leave all behind and follow Jesus to the small rural places in the United States where the Catholic faith is not yet effectively present.
The men I met are already involved in some truly wonderful ministries. Micah, one of the Kenyan retreatants, has just produced a record featuring a prison choir. He and the project were featured in the Standard, a national newspaper. Godfrey is working in the UN refugee camps in Uganda. Both of these men come from very loving and supportive families. Both are engaged in serious work to the most poor and marginalized of their society, yet they are willing to come and work with those in poverty here in the United States. What draws them? Mostly, the stories that there are not enough priests in the United States and that missioners served their nations, now it is their turn to serve. These are signs of generosity and courage.
Stanley’s story is a bit different. Last year during the post-election violence he and his family were directly affected and were unable to plant their crops out of fear of violence. It was because of the violence that I was unable to travel to visit him last year. Stanley, was asked to leave his place of employment twice. All of this was because he and his family are members of the minority tribe and the violence was tribal. Yet, today, Stanley is meeting in prayer with his fellow employees who had asked him to leave last year. This is reconciliation and forgiveness at its depth. His family, despite all they lost last year, was filled with joy, jokes and a sense of optimism about the future. This despite the internal refugee tents that line the on which they live. (Those living in the tents are referred to by the government as IDP—Internally displaced persons.
It is these stories, and many more like them, that humble me. What am I truly doing to serve the Lord? Are my talents promoting the Kingdom of God or myself? How generous or courageous am I? Am I willing to abandon all I know and follow Jesus?
The little humiliations that we experience in our lives prepares us to open ourselves for the deeper conversion. May this Lenten season help us find the humility of Christ in our daily lives.
