Be the Donkey

“Your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey.” Matthew 21:5

Sister Briege McKenna, a Catholic nun who has the gift of healing, was worried that people were just going to see her instead of going to see the Lord. She knew that it was Jesus who was doing the healing; she was just His chosen instrument. In a way, she felt that she was becoming a celebrity, and she did not like it. She prayed to God to help her. God sent her a vision of the donkey on Palm Sunday. When Jesus was on the donkey’s back going into Jerusalem and everybody was throwing palms in front of him, did the donkey think, “Is this for me?” The donkey was just carrying Jesus; all the glory was directed to Jesus, not to the donkey. Jesus told Sister Briege: “Be the donkey.” After that vision, Sister Briege understood that she is only an instrument, or a donkey, to carry Jesus to the people. He does the healing; she is just the vessel that He uses.

This story was shared this week at my prayer group by one of my prayer sisters. I loved it because I have been struggling a lot with humility. Even though I know that what I write comes through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, every time I receive a compliment, pride tries to make its way into my heart. It has been bothering me so much that I have been discerning whether I should just stop writing altogether. I have been visiting the Blessed Sacrament weekly and praying about this. Jesus gave me the response I was seeking at my prayer meeting. “Be the donkey,” is what I heard loud and clear. Whenever I receive praise for something I wrote, the glory is for Jesus, not for me. I am just the donkey carrying Jesus’ Words to those that He selects.

Just like Jesus needed the donkey, He needs us too. “Will we answer His call?” We all have talents that we have received from God. These talents are called “charisms.” In my prayer group, we have been reading the book “Sober Intoxication of the Spirit: Filled with the Fullness of God” by Raniero Cantalamessa, O.F.M Cap. This week, we covered the chapter about charisms. Charisms are special gifts that we receive from the Holy Spirit. He gives us these gifts so we can use them to serve others. “Serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received” (1 Peter 4:10). Therefore, all the gifts we have received from the Holy Spirit are not to be kept hidden. They are to be used to serve His Church. But we must serve with humility, not with pride.

Before I sat down to write this meditation, I said a prayer to the Holy Spirit, so that He could use me as His instrument for His own glory. I have nothing to gain for myself. I just want to be the donkey carrying Jesus and His message to those who want to hear it. A donkey is obedient and humble, so I must be an obedient donkey too by doing whatever Jesus asks of me as a humble servant. If I’m the donkey God has chosen for this assignment, I will obey and serve Him with gratitude because if I don’t obey Him, that is also a lack of humility.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, no one said: “Look at that donkey.” No, all eyes were on Jesus. All the donkey did was carry Jesus, completely unnoticed. May we all have the desire to serve, to give, and to bring glory to God while we go completely unnoticed. Like the donkey, we are not called to look for praise. We are called to carry Jesus to others by doing the work that God has assigned us while giving all the glory to God. We must play our part, always remembering that the focus is on Jesus, not on us.

Just like Jesus told Sister Briege to be the donkey, He is asking each of us today to be the donkey, using the charisms that we have received as gifts from Him to serve His Church. Let us faithfully carry Him to others through music, words, writings, healing, or with whatever gift we possess, and then step out of the way so He receives all the glory.

Copyright © 2025 Christy Romero. All rights reserved.