Humility

The WORD today (See http://usccb.org/bible/readings/090113.cfm) reminds us that God wants us to be humble.

The readings today emphasize humility. In the first reading, we are encouraged to be humble as we live our lives, and to be more humble as we accomplish greater things. The greater we are, the more humble we should become. In the gospel, Jesus himself taught about humility – being humble enough and not wanting attention to ourselves, even if we rightfully deserves it.

They say that humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of ourselves less. Feeling inferior is different from humility. God loves us, and there is no reason why we should think of ourselves as lesser than others. We may have different talents and gifts, but God is the one who gave us those things. Rather, we should be happy and confident with ourselves because we are children of God, but this does not give us the right to be boastful and proud. No matter what we have accomplished on earth should not give us a right to think more of ourselves. Rather, as stated in the reading, the more we accomplish on earth, the greater we are, the more humble we should be. Humility – thinking of ourselves less, thinking of other people more.

As we live this life, we want to accomplish things. We want to make our parents, families and friends proud. In fact, we should shine bright… not for ourselves, but for God. And being accomplished and successful does not give us the right to impose what we want to other people, to think that we are always right, and to want our way to always be done. May we learn the virtue of humility – and learn to submit to God, to our parents, to our superiors, to our leaders, and treat them with respect, even if we may feel we know more, even if we may feel we are right, even if we feel we deserve to be in their shoes.

Father God,

Thank you for today. Thank you for reminding me how much you love me. Thank you for giving me challenges that help me grow as a person, as a servant of God. Lord, I pray for humility. May I always remember how much you love me, and feel confident about myself, but may I also be humble in  my life, in my service. Lord, purify me as I live my life, as I serve you. May I always do my best to excel and to shine for you. And may we always remember to submit to authorities as we live our lives on earth. Amen.

Blessed Sunday!

In Christ,

-g-

Ps

See related reflection:

http://mysimplereflection.blogspot.com/2013/03/humility.html

http://mysimplereflection.blogspot.com/2012/02/humility-and-faith.html