Saturday, August 20, 2011

At the Day of Judgment, we shall not be asked what we have read, but what we have done.

Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. you only need a heart full of grace. a soul generated by love. - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Gospel text (Mt 23,1-12):
Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying,
“The scribes and the Pharisees
have taken their seat on the chair of Moses.
Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you,
but do not follow their example.
For they preach but they do not practice.
They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry
and lay them on people’s shoulders,
but they will not lift a finger to move them.
All their works are performed to be seen.
They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.
They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues,
greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’
As for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi.’
You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers.
Call no one on earth your father;
you have but one Father in heaven.
Do not be called ‘Master’;
you have but one master, the Christ.
The greatest among you must be your servant.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled;
but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

Humility is not humiliation. True humility is not putting ourselves down but facing reality. The word "humility" derives from the root word meaning "earth." Humility is being "down-to-earth," realistic. Reality is that we are "earthen vessels" (2 Cor 4:7). We cannot save ourselves, no matter how hard we try (Ps 49:8; Is 26:18). Reality is that we are utterly dependent on Jesus for life and eternal life. Reality is that we can trust our heavenly Father completely. He is perfectly faithful. Reality is that we are temples of the Holy Spirit. By faith, we can claim power from on high (Lk 24:49).

Therefore, humility is facing the reality that we can't control our own lives. We can be different from others, even vulnerable, because we have a Father. We can live simply because God will take care of us. We can live bold, free, and pure because we have a power within us that is from above us: the power of the Holy Spirit. Humility is living in the realities of holiness and simplicity

«For who makes you different? And what do you have that you did not receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?» (1Co 4:7).

Modern men are undergoing a regrettable amnesia: we live and behave as if we should have been the generators of life and creators of the world. John Paul II appeals to us to remember what we owe to God: «Man must honor his Creator by offering him, in praise and thanksgiving, whatever he has received from Him. Man cannot lose this sense of duty, which only he may recognize, amongst all other earthly realities».

Besides, thinking of the everlasting life, our cooperation —He will not do anything without our permission nor without our effort!— consists of not disturbing the Holy Spirit's labor: to let God do it!; for saintliness is not “manufactured” by us, but granted by him, who is Master, Father and Leader. In any case, if we do believe we are and possess something, let us hasten to put it at the service of our fellow men: «Let the greatest among you be the servant of all» (Mt 23:11).

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