Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have people call them rabbi. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.

“All Who Humble Themselves Will Be Exalted” (Matthew 23:12)

Among the many adages spoken in Jesuit circles, Saint Ignatius’s declaration that “love ought to show itself more in deeds than in words” is particularly salient. It echoes the Letter of James’ declaration that if our faith does not also consist in works, it is dead. It further reveals the utter necessity for our Christian faith to be one that is incarnational. 

If we consider the various places where power and authority are exercised in our world, we will likely share in Jesus’s disenchantment, “for they do not practice what they teach.” We may not find the same broad phylacteries and long fringes Christ pointed out, but we can certainly recognize that apathy and hypocrisy manifest themselves in a variety of styles and appearances.

But this is not how Christ operates. In this season of Lent, we meditate on the confounding reality that our savior comes to us meek and humble, that his power is exercised through sacrifice and abnegation. Perhaps we might consider where and in whom we find a similar witness, giving thanks for it, and praying for the grace to imitate it.

—Noah Banasiewicz, SJ, is a Jesuit scholastic and lecturer in the School of Communication at Loyola University Chicago. 

Lord, teach me to be generous;
to serve you as you deserve,
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labor and not to ask for any reward,
save that of knowing that we do your will.

—Prayer for Generosity