Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real.


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: (1581 – 1660: was a French Roman Catholic priest who dedicated himself to serving the poor.

Gospel Text: (MK 6:1-6)
Jesus departed from there and came to his native place,
accompanied by his disciples.
When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue,
and many who heard him were astonished.
They said, “Where did this man get all this?
What kind of wisdom has been given him?
What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands!
Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary,
and the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon?
And are not his sisters here with us?”
And they took offense at him.
Jesus said to them,
“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and among his own kin and in his own house.”
So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there,
apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them.
He was amazed at their lack of faith.

Jesus chose to take up the ordinary profession of his earthly foster-father Joseph, and worked with his hands, alongside the important mission of spreading the Gospel, precisely to teach us his kind of humility and devotion. On account of his humble beginnings. His own towns-folk took offense and rejected him, judging him unworthy of becoming a prophet.  

What hurdles prevent us from trusting in Christ as our Savior? Do we look for proof that Jesus really loves us and that he really is the God that has come to save us? We need to re-examine if our personal issues are getting in the way of our completely trusting in the Lord.

Let us pray for the grace of humbly trusting in Jesus's power to deliver us from our weaknesses and short-sightedness, learning from his example of humility and great love for us. May his example teach us how to treat the people around us, especially to those who do menial tasks which allow our lives to be comfortable. May we see Jesus's face and his great love among the least of our brethren, as he has taught us to do by the example of his own life.

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