The crumbs under the table

A woman knelt at the feet of Our Lord and begged him to heal her daughter. The woman was not a Jew, but a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. He looked at her and said: "It is not good to take the bread of the children and throw it to the dogs."…. "Yes, Lord," she replied, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master’s table"….. Our Lord was so touched by this that he cured her daughter at once.

Humility. That was the beautiful virtue which this pleading mother had. And it touched the heart of God. And that is the virtue which the Filipino has, spontaneously, naturally, without even thinking about it.

The Filipino is convinced that the great nations of the world, and the citizens of those nations, are somehow better than he is, because they have money, beautiful homes, comfort, security. Our talented young men and women move out to these countries as if they were going to the promised land.

But that conviction, that deep emotional feeling, is a great virtue. It is a gift of God. For two thousand years, ever since the days of Christ our Lord, the Fathers and Doctors of the Church have been teaching that poverty is the doorway to God. Because from poverty comes humiliations. From humiliations comes humility. And after that, all other virtues.

Saint Ignatius Loyola borrows this from the Fathers and Doctors of the Church and makes it one of the key meditations in the "Spiritual Exercises." He calls it: "The Two Standards". He was a military man, and "standard", to him, meant "flag".

He says that there are two flags in this world. Christ Our Lord wants to gather all men under his flag, and Satan wants to gather all men under his own flag. So Our Lord sends out angels to draw men to poverty:….. this brings them humiliations….. and humiliations produce that great, deep, beautiful virtue: humility. After that, all the other virtues.

Satan sends out his own legions. If you remember, the devil in the heart of the wild Gerasene said: "My name is legion." These emissaries are wise in the ways of the world. They give men, first of all, riches. . . . . . because riches lead to honor. . . . .and from honor comes pride. And after that, all other vices.

In the Gospel, "poverty" means not having the things that the world holds dear. You could be poor in money. Or in talent. Or in health. Or in family background. Louise de Marillac, for instance, the patroness of social workers, was illegitimate. All through her life she felt the shame of this. It was a humiliation. From that came humility. And after humility, tremendous compassion for the poor.

If a mother has to go to the registrar, at this time of the year, and say: "Could my child take the exams? I will pay our back tuition next week". . . . .she blushes with shame. Humiliation. From this comes humility. Then courage, sacrifice, determination, perseverance. . . . sanctity.

When a child is not an achiever in academics, and fails. . . . .that is poverty of talent. . . . .leading to humiliation. . . . . .to humility. . . . and this child is lovable to all the world.

When a person grows old, and is poor in health. . . . unable to work. . . . .unable even to take proper care of themselves. . . . this is humiliation. . . . .leading to humility . . . .And they become a blessing to their whole family.

In the Gospel, "riches" means having what this world holds dear. You could be rich in money. . . .or in talent. . . . or in beauty. . . . .or in health and strength. . . .or in a special expertise. This leads to honor. . . . .And honor leads to pride. . . . And after pride, all the other vices. . . . greed, ambition, lust.

If you really want money badly enough, you will get it. . . . .If you want power, you will get it. . . . .If you want the sexual pleasures of this world, you will get them. . . . .And after you have them, they will turn to dust and ashes in your mouth. You will wish they never came to you. . . . . . And in the end, despair.

The humility of the Filipino is a beautiful gift of God. It is a treasure that the Filipino has, and does not even know that he has it. But all the other virtues follow after it! Our Lord said: "I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly! I have come that my joy might be in you, and that your joy might be complete!"

This is what follows from poverty, humiliations, humility — all the world wonders at it — the Filipinos smile, always. Their home might be very simple, but it is filled with laughter. They have peace of soul, the joy of living, love, the fullness of life.

Some time ago they did a scientific survey on happiness in Asia. They discovered that the happiest people in Asia were the Filipinos. The most miserable were the Japanese.

Critics like to say that the Filipinos are not really Christian. That in the Philippines Christianity is only surface deep. And to prove this, they point out all our faults.

But when was religion able to make people sinless? The Bible itself is the story of the rise and fall of man — on almost every page!

• The first man, Adam, had only one commandment to keep, and he broke it. He ate the apple.

• Cain, the son of Adam and Eve, killed his brother.

• In the time of Noah, the world was so bad that God had to wash it clean with the flood.

• David was a man after God’s own heart, but he stole another man’s wife, and then had the man killed.

• In the time of Christ Our Lord, Peter, the head of all the Apostles, denied his God before a serving maid!

It is true — the Filipino is not sinless. But when a Filipino does something wrong, he knows that it is wrong! This is the only nation in which Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday are legal holidays — so that we can kneel before God and be sorry for all our sins!

The Filipino family prays! Even when they are destitute; even when the children have never gone to school and can not read or write; the family kneels before a statue of the Santo Niño, or before an image of the Virgin Mary, or before a crucifix, and prays! We are not only the lone Christian nation in Asia. In many ways we are reaching out to evangelize the rest of the world.

The Filipinos fill the churches in so many foreign countries! The Filipina Overseas Worker, a domestic in a foreign household, teaches religion to so many foreign children! Our priests and nuns are missionaries all over the world.

And all this is done so simply, so naturally, without realizing that we are a blessing to others!

To me, the most convincing proof of Filipino humility are the jokes that we tell. Do you notice that we never laugh at other nations? We only laugh at ourselves.

A Filipino was T.N.T. in the United States. And the police had a picture of him. So he was always afraid to keep any job. Whenever the police appeared, he would leave the job and run away, for fear that the police would recognize him from the picture.

Until he found a job that was just right! He was hired to act as a chimpanzee in a circus. They gave him a complete disguise as a chimpanzee. He felt perfectly safe, because in that disguise no one could recognize him. All he had to do was climb up on the bars, and flip around in his cage, like a chimpanzee. He wanted to keep this job, so he was very active, climbing and flipping. But one day he overdid it, and flipped over the bars into the cage of the gorilla!

This huge, monstrous gorilla came after him. Terrified, he forgot that he was supposed to be a chimpanzee, and he howled: "Saklolo!". . . . . .The big gorilla stopped, looked down at him, and said: "T.N.T. ka rin?"

We laugh at ourselves, even at our faults. This is a virtue. This is humility. It touches the heart of God.

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