Reflection for Ash Wednesday (February 14, 2024)
Simon Mary Asese Aihiokhai
On this day of Ash Wednesday, February 14, 2024, I am drawn to reflect on the following theme: The Greatest Temptation. If I were to ask you my readership, what do you think is the greatest temptation, I bet you will tell me that it is pride. And then if I were to probe further on what you understand pride to be, and you will also tell me that it means being boastful of one’s gifts and talents. To buttress this argument, you may quickly use scriptures to back up your claim. You may argue that Jesus taught us that we should not let what one’s left hand to know what the right hand is doing. Do permit me to offer a different interpretation to the biblical text. The condemnation of pride and the example Jesus gave in the Matthean account (6: 1 – 4) has unfortunately been read wrongly, in my opinion. Jesus was not condemning the fact that the rich person who was giving alms was wealthy. Rather, he was condemning the intentionality behind the almsgiving. The wealthy man would fall into false humility, which is pride itself if he pretended to be poor. The truth is that he is wealthy. But he was poor in his moral intentions and was pretending to be wealthy in that area, hence he was guilty of pride. The same can be said of a poor person who pretends to be wealthy. In their deception, they fall into the sin of pride. The corrective approach to what the wealthy man did in the Matthean gospel is offered in the Markan account (12: 41 – 44). Here was a poor woman who had wealthy intentions. It was not the amount she gave that made her worthy before God. Rather, it was the richness of her moral intentions. She had a big heart as we would say.
Where am I going with this, you may wonder. Let me call attention to what is observable in the colonized world. Colonial theology has distorted the teachings of Jesus to reflect a false understanding of pride and humility with the intent to control the colonized in their multiple giftedness. I see this at play in the global south where the vestiges of colonialism are in full display. Children are taught to never embrace their talents because if they truly do, they would be showing that they are proud. They internalize this toxic theology and over time, they never see themselves as persons God gave so many gifts and talents. They spend their entire lives believing that they embody scarcities. This toxic theological approach to educating believers ought to be called out for what it is. There is a distinction between acknowledging one’s gifts for what they are and the intentionality behind how one uses them.
Embrace your many gifts does not make you proud. It simply means that you are aware of the beautiful work God has done in your life. If you can sing very well and you are told that you can, do embrace it because it is your truth. Not to accept it is to lie to yourself and that there is pride. False humility is an expression of pride. The greatest temptation is to believe that who you are is not true. Failure to embrace your gifts is itself your greatest temptation. Like all temptations, they will come from places and persons with moral authority. This is why you must embrace discernment as a legitimate means for reclaiming your truth and light. Acknowledging your many talents is not enough. You must also embrace fully the vision that opens up for you in using those talents. If you are gifted with the gift of singing, and you are given a scholarship to attend Juilliard School, and someone else tells you that accepting the scholarship is itself a sign of pride, know that that voice is that of the devil. Talents are meant to be used in places where they will have the greatest impact. You were not called by God to be Mother Teresa helping the homeless and sick of India. You were called to be on Broadway. But there is something you and Mother Teresa share in common; and that is the intentionality behind the different talents you each have.
Though you and Mother Teresa have different callings, you each are called to embrace fully your respective gifts. In your embrace of your gifts, you should always think of the common good in the execution of your gifts. Sing on Broadway in such a manner that those who listen to your voice rediscover the fullness of their humanity. Even if they are billionaires, they also need to rediscover their full humanity as one that is linked to those of others. You are the harbinger of hope and meaning for those in that space. This is the same responsibility that Mother Teresa was given. She brought hope and meaning to the homeless of India. She gave them the opportunity to discover their full humanity and their sense of belonging which is at the heart of the common good.
Should you reject your calling to be on Broadway and think that you are called to be in the streets of India, you are embracing a false humility, which is pride. It is on that note that the questions for discernment must be posed: what are my talents? Where can they be used the most to bring about the flourishing of God’s people? How can I become fully myself through my talents? Where can I use my talents so that I can be fully myself? Never ignore these questions if you want to be fully faithful to God who gave you your many talents.
Wishing you all a reflective Ash Wednesday!
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