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Posts Tagged ‘Humility’

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Christ’s Message is Mercy

In Uncategorized on 2013/04/03 at 6:19 AM

For this Mercy Sunday, and excerpt from a previous Sunday re God’s Mercy

The Gospel narrates the story of the adulterous woman whom the Pharisees want to stone. Instead, Christ forgives her, and those who accused her disperse, intimidated by Jesus’ bending down to write on the ground with His finger.

In his homily, the Holy Father recalled that, before this story, Jesus had retired to the mountain to pray and later had gone down to the Temple where everyone listened to him. In the end, they left him alone with the woman. “Jesus’ solitude!”, he said. “It is a fruitful solitude—both that of His prayer with the Father as well as the other, so beautiful, … of his mercy toward this woman. This is the Church’s message today.”

“There is a difference between the people,” he continued. “On the one hand are the people who come to listen to him and before whom He takes a seat and teaches. These are the people who want to listen to Jesus’ words; the people with open hearts, in need of the Word of God.” Nevertheless, “there were others who didn’t listen, who could not listen. Among those were the ones who had gone to him with that woman, wanting him to condemn her. … I also think we are like this people who, on the one hand want to listen to Jesus, but, on the other hand, at times, like to be cruel to others, isn’t that right? To condemn others, right? This is Jesus’ message: mercy. On my part, I say it with humility; this is the the Lord’s strongest message: mercy. He himself said: ‘I did not come for the righteous’. The righteous can justify themselves. … Jesus came for the sinners.”

For example, think of the gossip after the call of Matthew: ‘but that one keeps company with sinners!’ And He has come for us, when we recognize that we are sinners. But if we are like the Pharisee before the altar—’Oh God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity—greedy, dishonest, adulterous—or even like this tax collector.’—then we do not know the Lord’s heart and we will never have the joy of feeling this mercy! It is not easy to trust in God’s mercy because it is an incomprehensible abyss. But we must do it!”

The Pope explained that sometimes people say to priests: “’Oh, Father, if you knew my life you wouldn’t say that.’ ‘Why? What have you done?’ ‘Oh, I’ve done bad things.’ ‘Good! Go to Jesus; He likes you to tell him these things. He forgets. He has the special ability to forget. He forgets them, kisses you, embraces you, and tells you only: ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.’ He only gives you this counsel. A month later we are the same … We return to the Lord. The Lord never tires of forgiving us, never! We are the ones who get tired of asking forgiveness. Let us ask for the grace to never tire of asking forgiveness, because He never tires of forgiving us. Let us ask for this grace.”

VIS 130317

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“God humbled himself”

In 01 Daily Meditations on 2012/12/28 at 9:11 AM
In Bethlehem is born our God: Jesus Christ! —There is no room at the inn: He is born in a stable. —And His Mother wraps Him in swaddling clothes and lays Him in a manger. Cold. —Poverty… —I am Joseph’s little servant. —How good Joseph is! —He treats me like a father. —He even forgives me if I take the Child in my arms and spend hour after hour saying sweet and loving things to Him!… And I kiss Him —you kiss Him too! —and I rock Him in my arms, and I sing to Him, and I call Him King, Love, my God, my Only-one, my All!… How beautiful is the Child and how short the decade! (Holy Rosary, Third Joyful Mystery)

He began by spending nine months in his Mother’s womb, like the rest of men, following the natural course of events. He knew that mankind needed him greatly. He was longing to come into the world to save all souls, but he took his time. He came in due course, just as every other child is born. From conception to birth, no one — except our Lady, St Joseph and St Elizabeth — realized the marvellous truth that God was coming to live among men.

There is a great simplicity also about his birth. Our Lord comes without any fanfare. No one knows about him. On earth only Mary and Joseph share in the divine adventure. And then the shepherds who received the message from the angels. And later on, the wise men from the East. They were the only witnesses of this transcendental event which unites heaven and earth, God and man.

How can our hearts be so hard that we can get used to these scenes? God humbled himself to allow us to get near him, so that we could give our love in exchange for his, so that our freedom might bow, not only at the sight of his power, but also before the wonder of his humility.

The greatness of this Child who is God! His Father is the God who has made heaven and earth and there he is, in a manger, “because there was no room at the inn”[1] — there was nowhere else for the Lord of all creation. (Christ is passing by, 18)
[1] Luke 2:7

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Thought Provoking Excerpts From Bishop Sheen

In 14 Book Corner on 2012/10/06 at 9:11 AM

I would highly recommend your reading THE WORLD’S FIRST LOVE by Bishop Fulton Sheen.  Hopefully, some of the excerpts below will encourage you to read it.

“The egotist magnifies himself, but Mary magnifies the Lord….As our ego inflated, the need for God seems to be less; as our ego deflates, the need of God appears in its true hunger.”  P. 41

“Obedience to the law of nature produces physical maturity; obedience to the law of parents produces mental maturity; obedience to the will of the Heavenly Father produces spiritual maturity.”  P.104

“Mary’s sorrow was not what she suffered but what He had to suffer.  That was the tragedy.  Love never thinks of itself.” P. 244

“Eden reversed: Three things cooperated in our fall: a disobedient Man, Adam; a proud woman, Eve; and a tree.  God takes the three elements that led to the defeat of man and uses them as instruments of victory: the obedient new Adam, Christ; the humble new Eve, Mary and the tree of the cross.”  P. 256

“Mary’ Fiat was one of the great Fiats of the universe: one made light, another accepted the Father’s will in the Garden, and hers accepted a life of selfless fellowship with the Cross….Our will is the only thing that is absolutely our own; hence it is the perfect offering we can make to God….There is only one thing in the world that can prevent finding each (God and one) and that is the human will.  We must will to find God; otherwise He will always seem to be the hidden God.”  P. 258

“It is not that God has abandoned the world but that the world has abandoned God and cast its lot with nature divorced from nature’s God….The new name for nature is science.  Science rightly understood means reading he wisdom of God in nature.  Science wrongly understood means reading the proofs of the book of nature while denying the book ever had an Author.”  P. 270

“The child, by making himself wiser than his mother, discovers his stupidity.  Man, by making himself a god, discovers the painful agony that he is not God.  When the first man made this discover, Scripture describes him as “naked”.  Naked, because the man who neglects or rejects God has nothing.  He may cover himself for a while with the fig leaves of “success,” “art,” “science,” and “progress” or by rationalizing his conduct, saying that there is not truth.  But he knows that these are but inadequate shred and cannot cover all his wants.  This is modern nudity – to be without God.”

Sheen, Fulton THE WORLD’S FIRST LOVE.  Ignatius Press.  http://www.ignatius.com/Products/CategoryCenter.aspx?SearchTerm=The+world’s+first+love

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“Do no be sorry to be nothing”

In 01 Daily Meditations on 2012/05/02 at 9:11 AM
Don’t worry if they see your defects; the offence against God and the scandal you may give; that is what should worry you. Apart from this, may you be known for what you are and be despised. Don’t be sorry to be nothing, since then Jesus will have to be everything for you. (The Way, 596)

‘No man,’ St John writes, ‘has ever seen God; but now his only‑begotten Son, who abides in the bosom of the Father, has himself revealed him,’ appearing to the astonished gaze of men: first, as a new-born babe, in Bethlehem; then, as a child just like other children; later on, in the Temple, as a bright and alert 12-year old; and finally in the lovable and attractive image of the Teacher who stirred the hearts of the enthusiastic crowds that accompanied him.

We have only to consider a few traits of God’s Love made flesh and our souls are touched by his generosity; they are set on fire and feel gently impelled to contrition for having been petty and selfish on so many occasions. Jesus does not mind lowering himself in order to raise us from our destitution to the dignity of being children of God and brothers of his. You and I, unlike him, often pride ourselves stupidly on the gifts and talents we have received, to the point of making them a pedestal from which to impose our will on others, as if the merits of our few relatively successful efforts derived from ourselves alone. ‘What do you have that you have not received from God? And if what you have, you have received, why do you boast as if you had not received it?’

When we think of God’s self‑giving and the way he humbled himself — I am saying this so that each one of us can meditate on it and apply it to himself — then the vainglory and presumption of the proud man stands out as a truly hideous sin, for the very reason that such conduct is poles apart from the model given us by Jesus Christ. Think about it slowly: He, being God, humiliated himself; man, puffed up with self‑love, tries to build himself up at any cost, without recognizing that he is but a creature of clay, and poor clay at that. (Friends of God, 111-112)

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“Forgive everyone”

In 01 Daily Meditations on 2011/08/30 at 8:53 AM
You will only be good if you know how to see the good points and the virtues of the others. That is why when you have to correct, you should do so with charity, at the opportune moment, without humiliating. And being ready yourself to learn and to improve in the very faults you are correcting. (The Forge, 455)

One of its first expressions is to initiate the soul into the ways of humility. When we sincerely see ourselves as nothing; when we understand that, without God’s help, the weakest and most puny of creatures would be better than we are; when we see we are capable of every kind of error and every kind of abomination; when we realize we are sinners, even though we are earnestly struggling to turn our back on our many infidelities, how could we possibly think badly of others? Or how could we harbour fanaticism, intolerance or haughtiness in our hearts?

Humility leads us as it were by the hand to treat our neighbour in the best way possible, that is, being understanding towards everyone, living at peace with everyone, forgiving everyone; never creating divisions or barriers; and behaving — always! — as instruments that foster unity. Not in vain is there in the depths of man’s being a strong longing for peace, for union with his fellow man, for a mutual respect for personal rights, so strong that it seeks to transform human relations into fraternity. This longing reflects something which is most deeply imprinted upon our human condition: since we are all children of God, our fraternity is not a cliché or an empty dream; it beckons as a goal which, though difficult, is really ours to achieve…

In prayer, with God’s grace, pride can be transformed into humility. Then, true joy wells up in our heart, even though we feel that the wings of our soul are still clogged with the mud, the clay of our wretchedness which is now beginning to dry out. If we practice mortification the mud will fall off, allowing us to soar very high, because the wind of God’s mercy will be blowing in our favour. (Friends of God, 233 and 249)

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“The things people have said, what they are thinking…”

In 01 Daily Meditations on 2011/08/18 at 7:00 AM

The higher a statue is raised, the harder and the more dangerous the impact when it falls. (Furrow, 269)

When we hear pride spoken of, perhaps we imagine it as despotic, domineering behaviour. We associate it with the clamour of the mob acclaiming the passing victor, who, like a Roman emperor, bows his head lest his glorious brow graze the white marble of the high triumphal arches.

But let us be realistic. This type of pride is found only in people with crazy imaginations. We have to fight against other forms of pride that are more subtle, and more frequent: against the pride of preferring our own excellence to that of our neighbour; against vanity in our conversations, thoughts and gestures; against an almost sickly touchiness that takes offence at words and actions that are in no way meant to be insulting.

All this can be, and is, a common temptation. A person can come to see himself as the sun and centre of all those around him. Everything must centre round himself. And to satisfy this unhealthy urge, the proud person will sometimes even fake pain, sadness or illness to attract attention so that others will make a fuss of him…

In this miserable mood everything makes him bitter and he tries to upset others also. All this because he doesn’t wish to be humble, because he hasn’t learned to forget himself in order to give himself generously in the service of others for the love of God. (Friends of God)

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Beatitudes Vocabulary

In 06 Scripture & Theology on 2011/07/30 at 6:56 AM

Pure in Spirit/Simplicity

The poor in spirit are those who remember that all they are and have is from God and give back to Him whatever He wants of them. We live the virtue of simplicity when we maintain the proper intention in our love for Our Lord.  Simplicity, which is close to humility, will lead us to ask forgiveness often; it leads us to admit and correct our mistakes.

The  spirit of divine sonship means being completely dependent on our Heavenly Father  by abandoning ourselves confidently to his loving Providence, just as a child entrusts everything to its father.  A child does not hold grudges, is ignorant of duplicity or fraud, does not deceive, does not seek revenge, easily forgets, does not store up grievances and has no deep sorrows.

Simplicity is one of the principal manifestations of spiritual childhood. It is the result of becoming defenseless before God like a vulnerable and trusting child before its father. Spiritual childhood always holds to the freshness of love in a soul by not dwelling on adverse experience.

The simple person is not naive yet neither suspicious, prudent but not distrustful. He lives the teaching of the Christ, being wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Thus, the most sublime doctrine becomes accessible to the most simple souls.

The real cause of egotism and selfishness is pride.  It looks at everything from our its own viewpoint and it’s own agenda.  Pride inflates one’s own abilities, aggrandize one’s own qualities and demands the attention of others to them.  Consequently, proud people are egocentric and selfish, not really knowing how to love anyone but themselves, loving only for what they can obtain from others for themselves.

To conquer this vice, we must fix our gaze on Christ, admitting our mistakes and correcting them. Thus, we will grow in humility, thanking God for all the benefits received from Him, allowing ourselves to be helped, seeking advice, stopping excusing our sins and failures, asking forgiveness of those we offend.

MEEKNESS / HUMILITY

Meekness is rooted in spiritual strength, and it is really the meek who are truly strong. Meekness blunts the sharp arrows of anger like a protective shield.  Meekness ignores impatience, irritation, bad tempered and hateful attacks, actions which reveal fundamental weakness.  Meekness sets its face against those pointless displays of violence which at the bottom are really signs of weakness.

Meekness does not waste energy on anger and passes it by in silence or with a smile that is a disarming weapon of defense.  A meek person suffers unjust persecution, remaining serene and humble, not giving way to resentment or discouragement.

A lack of humility and interior peace are at the bottom of irritability.   Explosive irritability corrodes love.  It destroys peace in prayer because it broods over perceived injuries and forgets about God to whom it should appeal for help.

The lack of meekness comes from pride.  To master one’s self is to prevent quick and wounding responses.  Thus, the meek will inherit the earth because they will not be slaves to impatience and bad temper.  Instead, they will be serene in the possession of God with their souls seeking Him in prayer. Through kind-heartedness and understanding the people around them, they will, instead, win friendship and love.

We learn to be humble by meditating on the Passion of our Lord who suffered so many humiliations and by considering His humility in the Holy Eucharist where He waits for us to visit Him and speak with him.  Therefore, we can walk the way of meekness accepting humiliations, accepting our defects and struggling to overcome them.  Then, we will find in Him, who carries the greatest portion of our burdens, a yoke that is easy and a burden that is light.

PURE OF HEART

To be clean of heart means to be selfless, viewing all from God’s point of view rather than our own.  This singleness of purpose is putting God first, without self-deception or compromise, keeping the heart healthy and clean so as to please God.

In order to be pure of heart, we need to remove all obstacles. One’s whole being is defiled by what occurs in the heart.  Evil desires and intentions are conceived in the heart before they become an external reality.  It is in the heart that God is either loved or offended.  It is what we speak from the heart that defiles us. We must look for God in every circumstance and purify ourselves by asking forgiveness for our sins and errors.

God himself and His creation can only been seen by those whose intentions and attitudes are good.   God is looking for each one so that a Christian who sincerely searches for Christ will find him because Christ is searching for him.

MERCY

We will only have mercy in our hearts when we offer mercy, when we forgive, our enemies from the example and with the help of Christ.

Mercy is not simply a matter of giving alms to the poor, but also of being understanding of other people’s defects, overlooking them, helping them not only to cope with them but to love  them despite whatever defects they may have.  Mercy also suffers and rejoices with others.

PEACEMAKER

Peace is a clear sign of God’s nearness and closeness to us.  St. Paul consistently exhorted the first Christians to live in peace, saying that the God of love and peace would be with them. True peace results from holiness. St. Augustine also describes true peace as the tranquility of order.

True peace means being concerned about others, being interested in their plans and projects, their joys and sorrows.  God wants us Christians to bring peace and joy with us wherever we go.  Then, we can say as St. Paul ends his first letter to the Corinthians: “My love be with you in Christ Jesus.”

All the Beatitudes express in figurative language the promised reward of heaven.

So, in conclusion, what does the spirit of the Beatitudes mean to the Christian?  It means viewing the world as Christ views it and then reacting to circumstances as Christ Himself would react.  For us, the real Christian spirit is summarized in the eight Beatitudes and in the life of Our Master to whose likeness we desire to be transformed.

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“Christian prayer: a loving conversation with Jesus”

In 01 Daily Meditations on 2011/07/12 at 7:44 AM
I have always understood Christian prayer as being a loving conversation with Jesus, which shouldn’t be interrupted even in the moments when we are physically far from the Tabernacle, because our whole life is a serenade of human love for our God|… and we can love always. (The Forge, 435)

Each day without fail we should devote some time especially to God, raising our minds to him, without any need for the words to come to our lips, for they are being sung in our heart. Let us give enough time to this devout practice; at a fixed hour, if possible. Before the Tabernacle, close to him who has remained there out of Love. If this is not possible, we can pray anywhere because our God is ineffably present in the heart of every soul in grace. Still I would advise you to go to the oratory whenever you can…

Each one of you, if he wants, can find his own way to converse with God. I do not like to talk about methods or formulas, because I have never wished to straitjacket anyone. What I have always tried to do is to encourage everyone to come closer to Our Lord, respecting each soul as it is, each with its own characteristics. Ask him to introduce his ideas and plans into our lives: not only into our heads, but also into the depths of our hearts and into all our outward actions. I assure you that you will thus be spared many of the disappointments and sorrows of selfishness, and you will find you have the strength to do good to all around you. How many obstacles vanish when in our hearts we place ourselves next to this God of ours, who never abandons us! Jesus’ love for his own, for the sick and for the lame, is renewed, expressed in different ways, ‘What is the matter?’ he asks, and we reply, ‘It’s my…’ At once there is light, or at least the acceptance of his will, and inner peace.

When I encourage you to open your heart in confidence to the Master, I am referring especially to your own difficulties, because most of the obstacles to our happiness come from our pride, which may be hidden to a greater or less degree. We had thought we were worth a great deal and had a lot of exceptional qualities; then, when others didn’t agree, we felt humiliated. This is a good time to pray and to correct our mistaken attitude. We can be sure it is never too late to change our course. (Friends of God, 249)

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Maturity Level

In 01 Daily Meditations on 2011/04/09 at 12:32 AM

Do you have unruffled trust in God as your Father?

Do you meet reality as it is?

Do you say and show what you feel?

Are you simple and candid?

Do you over-analyze?

Are you open to what goes on outside yourself?

Do you look at things as they really are?

Is your ego small?

Is your consciousness brimming with people, objects, and happenings?

Are you open to and receptive of new ideas?

Are you open to all that comes from God, ready to accept consequences?

If you answer positively to all the above, you are childlike and have reached Christian maturity.