This weekend we celebrate our country’s Independence Day. As we thank Our Lord for all the gifts He has given us in our beautiful country, let us not forget to ask Him to bless those who have served and continue to give their lives for our country’s freedom. With favor and bounty may He meet their needs and watch over their families. Amen.
This Sunday, Jesus teaches us about the fundamental virtue of humility, which is essential for our efforts to follow Christ and bear fruit.
In the Gospel, Jesus speaks about the vice of pride. Jesus’ prayer to his Father contains a warning that pride can keep us from the love and knowledge of God. Pride is the root of all vice and the strongest influence driving us to sin. It first vanquishes the heart, making it cold and indifferent towards God. It also closes the mind to God’s truth and wisdom for our lives.
Jesus contrasts intellectual pride with child-like simplicity and humility. ‘Simplicity of heart’ with ‘humility’ incline the heart towards grace and truth. Just as pride is the root of every sin and evil, so humility is the only soil in which the grace of God can take root.
According to the words of Sacred Scripture: God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble (Proverbs 3:34, James 4:6). We need to take a moment and look at our lives in the light of this Sunday’s Gospel:
Do I look down on others with disdain and annoyance at home, at work, while I drive, during recreation?
Do I feel upset when I am not thanked or praised for work or help offered to others.
Do I recognize and thank God for any good I am able to accomplish only by His Grace.
Do I notice I am praying more each day during the activities I am doing, asking God to help me and thanking Him they are done well?
Our Lady was the humblest handmaid of the Lord. Let us ask the Lord, through the intercession of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, that each day may we grow in the fundamental virtue of humility.
O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to You.
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