We'd like to be humble...but what if no one notices?

"The most powerful weapon to conquer the devil is humility. For, as he does not know at all how to employ it, neither does he know how to defend himself from it”. ---Saint Vincent de Paul

Gospel text (Mt 18,1-5.10.12-14):
The disciples approached Jesus and said,
“Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?”
He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said,
“Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,
you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.
Whoever becomes humble like this child
is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.
And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones,
for I say to you that their angels in heaven
always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.
What is your opinion?
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray,
will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills
and go in search of the stray?
And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it
than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.
In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father
that one of these little ones be lost.”

Today’s culture does not encourage reflection. Go, go, go! Every waking hour has to be filled. If the page does not come up in five seconds, click on to the next. I don’t have time to talk, so I’ll just text. The disciples are classic examples of this. They wanted to know how to be the greatest. No time to pray for guidance. Just give it to us. How many do we have to heal? Tell us in 20 words or less. Jesus, time and again, has to tell the disciples to come away with Him to a quiet place.

The Gospel also teaches us today another lesson. Would you leave ninety-nine pressing matters to go in search of a stray? Would you stop all church activities to reach out to the lost? Would you interrupt your schedule, work, and life to share your faith with someone fallen away? Jesus has a heart for the stray sheep. He cries when He sees them (Lk 19:41). He drops everything to seek them. His heart is moved with pity (Mt 9:36). There's more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine others (Lk 15:7).

Do you have Christ's heart for the strays? How much do you care?

Picture a baby in a high chair. No matter what the parents do, the baby refuses to eat, shutting its mouth. That is the picture of many Christians today. We Christians are spiritually anorexic. We refuse to eat what God gives us because we are stuffed with the things the world has brainwashed us into eating (see Prv 13:19). The food of the "feel-good culture," materialism and consumerism, is much more appetizing to us than God's commands given to us out of His Fatherly love.

The answer to this spiritual anorexic state is simple:

"Draw close to God, and He will draw close to you. Cleanse your hands, purify your hearts. Be humbled in the sight of the Lord and He will raise you on high" (Jas 4:8-10).