Pope Francis celebrated Mass this morning at Santa Marta House. Taking his cue from ‘Praise of the Father’ in today’s Gospel of Luke, the Holy Father said that God reveals his mystery to the humble, not the learned and the scholarly, to those who "walk before the Lord," watched over and shielded. This is "not the humility of the one who said: 'I am humble, but proud of it'."
The pontiff stressed God’s preference for those who can understand his mysteries, not the learned and the scholarly, but the "heart of the little ones." Even the First Reading, full "of little details" Francis noted, "goes in that direction". The prophet Isaiah speaks of "a small shoot" that "starts from the stump of Jesse," and not of "an army" that will bring liberation.
The little ones play a central role Christmas. "
“Then at Christmas, we see this smallness, this little thing: a baby, a stable, a mother, a father. . . Small things. Big hearts but the attitude of a child. And the Spirit of the Lord, the Holy Spirit comes to rest on this shoot and this small shoot will have the virtue of children and the fear of the Lord. He will walk in the fear of the Lord. Fear of the Lord is not dread: no, it is putting into practice the commandment God gave to our father Abraham: ‘Walk in my presence and be blameless,’ Humble. This is humility. Fear of the Lord is humility.”
Only the little ones "are capable of understanding" fully "the sense of humility," the “Lord’s sense of fear" because those who "walk before the Lord" watched over and shielded" feel that the Lord gives them the strength to go on." This is true humility.
“Living our humility, Christian humility means having this fear of the Lord that, I repeat, is not dread but is: ‘You are God, I am a person, I go forward this way with the little things of life but walking in Your presence and trying to be blameless.’ Humility is the virtue of the little ones. This is true humility, not a theatrical humility: no, not that. [That is] the humility of the one who said: ‘I am humble but proud of it.’ No, that is not true humility. The humility of the little ones is that which walks in the presence of the Lord, that does not speak badly about others, that looks only at serving, that feels as the smallest . . . That is where strength lies.”
The girl upon whom God looks “to send His Son” is also “humble, very humble”. Right away, she goes to her cousin Elisabeth and says nothing “of what has happened. This is how humility is,” said Francis, of those who “walk in the presence of the Lord,” happy, joyful because they are “watched over by Him, [. . .] full of joy because they are humble,” just as today’s Gospel reading says.
“As we look at Jesus rejoicing because God reveals his mystery to the humble, we can ask for the grace of humility for all of us, the grace of fear of God, of walking in his presence seeking to be blameless. Thus, with this humility, we can be vigilant in prayer, diligent in brotherly charity and full of joy in giving praise.”