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The greatest

Jesus says very clearly who John the Baptist is, what his mission was, and his importance as the "greatest born of a woman." But he adds that the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he. Who is the greatest? Lots of people claim that title. The greatest boxer, the greatest actor, the greatest magician, the greatest athlete, the greatest – whatever is a title fought over. Even the apostles tried to juggle for position with Jesus. If we want to be the greatest, Jesus tells us we need to be the least. The greatest is the one who serves the others. John the Baptist never claimed greatness for himself. He made a point of saying that he wasn't even worthy of tying the sandals on the feet of Jesus. There are people who truly are great and history will tell us if they are or were the greatest. But these are not usually people who claimed greatness; they are usually people who used their God-given talents to the best of their ability. John was humble; he did what he was called to do, prepare the way for Jesus. Humility is an interesting virtue. It comes from the Latin word for earth – humus – and refers to being grounded. The humble person knows that he or she is gifted and nurtures those gifts so that they might grow and then uses those gifts for the benefit of others. The humble person doesn't take credit for the gift, rather accepts that it is a gift from God and gives God the glory. Pride is the vice that takes credit for the gift. Jesus did not come as a prince or a king being born in a palace, he came as a baby of humble origin. He wanted us to know that he was one of us so that we could relate to him better. May we all use our gifts to the best of our ability and always remember to thank the giver for the gift.