O my Jesus, Thou who art very Love,
enkindle in my heart that Divine Fire
which consumes the Saints and transforms them into Thee.
O Lord our God,
we offer Thee our hearts
united in the strongest and most sincere love of brotherhood;
we pray that Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament
may be the daily food of our souls and bodies;
that Jesus may be established as the center of our affections,
even as He was for Mary and Joseph.
Finally, O Lord, may sin never disturb our …
“Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with God,” we hear in today’s reading from Sirach.
Jesus reiterates this in the Gospel, saying, “For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
And St. Augustine, whose feast we celebrate today, wrote, “If you should ask me what are the ways of God, I would tell you that the first is humility, the second is humility, and the third is humility. Not that there are no other precepts to give, but if humility does not precede all that we do, our efforts are fruitless.”
That is a difficult prescription in today’s society, in which humility may be the most underappreciated, unrewarded virtue. In a world obsessed with social media, many of us judge our worth by how often our posts are liked or shared by others, hoping to go viral, obsessively checking our phones throughout the day when we think we have shared something exceptionally profound or amusing. That does not exactly predispose us toward humility!
Jesus did not just talk about humility; rather, he set the example for us to follow. He began by coming among us: God taking on our flesh, our lives, our physical limitations. His place of birth, his social status, the way he lived, and his manner of death were all humble in nature. One of his last acts was to wash the feet of his friends. If we want to call ourselves Christ followers, clearly humility should be central.
Pride is the vice in direct opposition to humility. The fact that it is the sin that made the angels fall should alert us to its seriousness. It is a stumbling block for me, so much so that when I first encountered the Litany of Humility (excerpted below), I did not want to say it! I remember thinking, “I don’t want to pray for those things!”
O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being loved, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being honored, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed, Deliver me, Jesus.
That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I, provided that I become as holy as I should, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
But eventually I realized that the Litany does not require that we renounce being loved or honored and seek out ridicule and humiliation, but rather that we shift our focus away from actively being motivated by a desire for these things. This prayer promotes a change in perspective that can help us “follow the ways of God,” as Saint Augustine wrote. So I began to pray it daily. Will you join me?
“Hazte tanto más pequeño cuanto más grande seas y hallarás gracia ante el Señor”, escuchamos en la lectura de hoy del Eclesiástico.
Jesús reitera esto en el Evangelio, diciendo: “Porque el que se engrandece a sí mismo, será humillado; y el que se humilla, será engrandecido”.
Y San Agustín, cuya fiesta celebramos hoy, escribió: “Si me preguntaras cuáles son los caminos de Dios, te diría que el primero es la humildad, el segundo es la humildad y el tercero es la humildad. No es que no haya otros preceptos que dar, pero si la humildad no precede a todo lo que hacemos, nuestros esfuerzos son en vano”.
Esa es una receta difícil en la sociedad actual, en la que la humildad puede ser la virtud menos apreciada y sin recompensa. En un mundo obsesionado con las redes sociales, muchos de nosotros juzgamos nuestro valor por la frecuencia con la que otras personas les gustan o comparten nuestras publicaciones, con la esperanza de volverse virales, revisando obsesivamente nuestros teléfonos durante todo el día cuando creemos que hemos compartido algo excepcionalmente profundo o divertido. ¡Eso no nos predispone precisamente a la humildad!
Jesús no solo habló de humildad; más bien, nos dio el ejemplo a seguir. Comenzó por venir entre nosotros: Dios tomando nuestra carne, nuestras vidas, nuestras limitaciones físicas. Su lugar de nacimiento, su estatus social, la forma en que vivió y su forma de muerte fueron todos de naturaleza humilde. Uno de sus últimos actos fue lavar los pies de sus amigos. Si queremos llamarnos seguidores de Cristo, claramente la humildad debe ser central.
El orgullo es el vicio en oposición directa a la humildad. El hecho de que sea el pecado el que hizo caer a los ángeles debe alertarnos de su gravedad. Es una piedra de tropiezo para mí, tanto que cuando me encontré por primera vez con la Letanía de la humildad (extraído a continuación), ¡no quería rezarla! Recuerdo haber pensado: “¡No quiero orar por esas cosas!”.
Oh Jesús, manso y humilde de corazón, escúchame
Del deseo de ser amado, líbrame, Jesús
Del deseo de ser honrado, líbrame, Jesús
Del miedo de ser humillado, líbrame, Jesús
Del miedo de ser ridiculizado, líbrame, Jesús
Para que otros sean amados más que yo, Jesús, concédeme la gracia de desearlo
Para que otros sean más santos que yo, con tal de que yo sea tan santo como debo, Jesús, concédeme la gracia de desearlo.
Pero al final me di cuenta de que la Letanía no requiere que renunciemos ser amados u honrados y busquemos el ridículo y la humillación, sino que desviemos nuestro enfoque de estar activamente motivados por el deseo de estas cosas. Esta oración promueve un cambio de perspectiva que puede ayudarnos a “seguir los caminos de Dios”, como escribió san Agustín. Entonces comencé a rezarlo diariamente. ¿Me acompañaras?
Leslie Sholly is a Catholic, Southern wife and mother of five, living in her hometown, Knoxville, Tennessee. She graduated from Georgetown University with an English major and Theology minor. She blogs at Life in Every Limb, where for 11 years she has covered all kinds of topics, more recently focusing on the intersection of faith, politics, and social justice.
Feature Image Credit: falco, pixabay.com/photos/church-window-church-window-1881232/
St. Augustine of Hippo is the patron of brewers because of his conversion from a former life of loose living, which included parties, entertainment, and worldly ambitions. His complete turnaround and conversion has been an inspiration to many who struggle with a particular vice or habit they long to break.
This famous son of St. Monica was born in Africa and spent many years of his life in wicked living and in false beliefs. Though he was one of the most intelligent men who ever lived …
I.
Come, virgins chaste; pure brides, draw near:
Let Earth exult and Heaven hear
The Hymn that grateful accents raise,
Our song of joy in Rita’s praise.
II.
By fast her sinless frame is weak;
Her livid flesh the scourges streak.
In pity for her Savior’s woes,
Her days and even nights are closed.
III.
The thorn-wound on her brow is shown,
The crimson rose in winter blown,
And full-ripe figs on frozen tree
At Rita’s wish the wonders see.
IV.
The widowed spouse …
I really like the words of First Corinthians 1:26-31. I guess it is because I’ve struggled all my life with poor self-esteem. That usually starts young in life after being told that you’re a bad person. The good part is that I’ve felt God being part of my life beginning at a very early age. I’ve probably mentioned it before but I’m not a cradle Catholic. I came into the church at 9 years old. But, prior to that, the pastor’s wife of a free Methodist Church would pick me up on Sunday morning and bring me to Sunday school. I would really like a picture of myself at that age (4) because my eyes must have been as big as saucers! I would look at the felt board and listen to Bible stories. I remember it like it was yesterday. That Lady was like a surrogate mother to me, but I didn’t realize it until I was about 40 years old. It was discovered during spiritual direction. I think I went through a lot of Kleenex at that moment.
Today’s First Reading talks about most of us not being of noble birth. Then it says that God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise. I chuckle at that because I’ve seen it happen many times. Paul goes on to say that God chooses the weak of the world to shame the strong and chooses the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something.
Wow! Is that awesome or what? Except, the world does not believe that! The world tells us that we have to be powerful. And what gets power, you say? Usually, it’s money. Following the line of logic, if you have no money you have no power. But, power is not all it’s cracked up to be. At least human power.
Hopefully by now, you have felt the Lord’s presence working through you. That includes Him giving you the words to say when he places someone before you that needs help. In my opinion, one can only believe that by experience. And where does that experience come from? It is from us dying to ourselves and actually allowing the Lord to work through us. Be careful though, because when that first happens it can or may become prideful. The Lord’s words have power, especially when delivered in a gentle way. There are so many places in Scripture where this was proven and sometimes we forget that some of the greatest people in Scripture were the lowliest, at least in the eyes of the world.
I am going to get real serious now. If you have ever had the feeling of being “less than”, please hear this: Many people disregard the idea of God speaking to a person. That is because they never heard God speaking to them. Scripture tells us that God loves the poor and the lowly. How could that be true? Easy, the poor and the lowly need God to survive. So, they are in contact with the Lord every day. They do not wait for a major crisis to call on the Lord.
The secret is to die to self (sound familiar?) and open up that channel between you and God and let Eternity be your goal.
Amen?
Serving with Joy!
Me gustan mucho las palabras de 1 Corintios 1,26-31. Supongo que es porque he batallado toda mi vida con una baja autoestima. Eso generalmente comienza temprano en la vida después de que te digan que eres una mala persona. Lo bueno es que he sentido a Dios siendo parte de mi vida desde muy temprana edad. Probablemente lo he mencionado antes, pero no nací católico. Entré a la iglesia a los 9 años. Pero, antes de eso, la esposa del pastor de una iglesia metodista me recogía el domingo por la mañana y me llevaba a la escuela dominical. ¡Realmente me gustaría una foto mía a esa edad (4) porque mis ojos deben haber sido tan grandes como platos! Miraba el tablero de fieltro y escuchaba historias bíblicas. Lo recuerdo como si fuera ayer. Esa Señora fue como una madre sustituta para mí, pero no me di cuenta hasta que tuve unos 40 años. Fue descubierto durante la dirección espiritual. Creo que gasté muchos Kleenex en ese momento.
La Primera Lectura de hoy habla de que la mayoría de nosotros no somos de nacimiento noble. Luego dice que Dios escogió a los insensatos del mundo para avergonzar a los sabios. Me río de eso porque lo he visto suceder muchas veces. Pablo continúa diciendo que Dios elige a los débiles del mundo para avergonzar a los fuertes y elige a los humildes y despreciados del mundo, a los que nada valen, para reducir a la nada los que son algo.
¡Wow! ¡Qué impresionante! Solo que el mundo no cree eso. El mundo nos dice que tenemos que ser poderosos. ¿Y qué obtiene el poder? Por lo general, es el dinero. Siguiendo la línea de la lógica, si no tienes dinero no tienes poder. Pero, el poder no es tan bueno como parece. Al menos el poder humano.
Ojalá ya habrás sentido la presencia del Señor obrando a través de ti. Eso incluye que Él te dé las palabras cuando pone a alguien delante de ti que necesita ayuda. En mi opinión, uno solo puede creer eso por experiencia. ¿Y de dónde viene esa experiencia? Se trata de nosotros muriendo a nosotros mismos y permitiendo que el Señor obre a través de nosotros. Sin embargo, ten cuidado, porque cuando eso sucede por primera vez, puedes volverte orgulloso.
Las palabras del Señor tienen poder, especialmente cuando se pronuncian con dulzura. Hay tantos lugares en las Escrituras donde esto se demostró y, a veces, nos olvidamos que algunas de las personas más importantes de las Escrituras eran las más humildes, al menos a los ojos del mundo.
Voy a ponerme muy serio ahora. Si alguna vez has tenido la sensación de sentirte “menos”, por favor escucha esto: Muchas personas ignoran la idea de que Dios le hable a una persona. Eso es porque nunca escucharon a Dios hablarles. Las Escrituras nos dicen que Dios ama a los pobres y a los humildes. ¿Cómo podría ser cierto? Fácil, los pobres y los humildes necesitan a Dios para sobrevivir y por eso están en contacto con el Señor todos los días. No esperan una gran crisis para invocar al Señor.
El secreto es morir a uno mismo (¿te suena familiar?) y abrir ese canal entre tú y Dios y dejar que la Eternidad sea tu meta.
¿Amén?
¡Serviendo con Alegría!
Deacon Dan Schneider is a retired general manager of industrial distributors. He and his wife Vicki have been married for over 50 years. They are the parents of eight children and thirty grandchildren. He has a degree in Family Life Education from Spring Arbor University. He was ordained a Permanent Deacon in 2002. He has a passion for working with engaged and married couples and his main ministry has been preparing couples for marriage.
Featured Image Credit: Priscilla Du Preez, unsplash.com/photos/zcJ5lyvN_tw
Saint Monica, also known as Monica of Hippo, is St. Augustine of Hippo’s mother. She was born in 331 A.D. in Tagaste, which is present-day Algeria.
When she was very young, she was married off to the Roman pagan Patricius, who shared his mother’s violent temper. Patricius’ mother lived with the couple and the duo’s temper flares proved to be a constant challenge to young Monica.
While Monica’s prayers and Christian deeds bothered Patricius, he is said to have respected her beliefs.
Three …
From all eternity, O Lord, You planned my very existence and my destiny. You wrapped me in Your love in baptism and gave me the Faith to lead me to an eternal life of happiness with You. You have showered me with Your graces and You have been always ready with Your mercy and forgiveness when I have fallen. Now I beg You for the light I so earnestly need that I may find the way of life in which lies the best fulfillment of Your will. Whatever state this may be, give me the grace necessary to …
My grandson, who is now 4 years old, likes to pretend he is a character from one of his books, movies or TV shows, and the rest of his family gets assigned roles, too. After spending a week in Florida, he was Mickey for the longest time, his mom was Minnie, his baby sister was assigned Pluto and Dad got to be Goofy. Sorry, Dad.
Not too long ago, he was telling Grandma and me that he had been reading stories in his children’s Bible. “Dad makes a good Adam,” he told us over FaceTime. “Mom is Eve, and Marie is the snake.” Poor Marie. But what about you, Michael? “I am God.”
In his innocence, he instinctively seems to choose what he sees as the most important role for himself. Thus, in the Garden of Eden story, he went straight to the top. But the little guy is 4, and he is just playing make-believe — what about us? We are adults, or at least teens. We have life experience; we “know better.” But how often do we put ourselves first, choose ourselves over others, put ourselves in the place of God, decide we know better than God?
Paul wrote to the Corinthians nearly 2,000 years ago, but he just as easily could be talking about us in 2022. Back then, as now, people thought they had it all figured out. They thought they knew how things should be and how they were. Salvation through a savior who is violently killed in a criminal’s execution? There’s no way that could be, in so many people’s minds, then and now. “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,” Paul observes, “but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Christ crucified is a stumbling block and foolishness to those who decide they know better than God himself, but “to those who are called … Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
We are called. All of us. Every day. What do we do with that call? Do we answer it? I think we all like to think we are answering the call, but our Gospel today tells us it has to be more than that. Are we among the virgins who go out to meet our Lord well-prepared? You can go into any room full of people, and you can be pretty sure a majority there believe in God, and even if they don’t, even more will believe they are good people. The problem is we, as people, are not the best judges of how good we are. We’re much better at deciding our faults aren’t “that bad.” Or that God “doesn’t really care about that.” There we are, putting ourselves in the place of God, and when doing so, we’re going out to meet our Lord far from prepared.
So what do we do? Jesus told us: repent and believe in the Gospel. We will fail, but we must start over, every day if necessary, every hour! And we must pray, pray always. Pray for grace, mercy, help to love and serve the Lord and our neighbors. We have been redeemed by a crucified and risen Savior. Believe it. Internalize it. Live it like nothing else matters.
A mi nieto, que ahora tiene 4 años, le gusta fingir que es un personaje de uno de sus libros, películas o programas de televisión, y al resto de su familia también se le asignan roles. Después de pasar una semana en Florida, fue Mickey por mucho tiempo, su mamá era Minnie, su hermanita fue asignada a Pluto y papá fue Goofy. Lo siento, Papá.
No hace mucho, nos estaba contando a su abuela y a mí que había estado leyendo historias en la Biblia de niños. “Papá es un buen Adán”, nos dijo por FaceTime. “Mamá es Eva y Marie es la serpiente”. Pobre María. Pero, “¿y tú, Miguel? ¿tú quién eres?” “Yo soy Dios,” nos dijo.
En su inocencia, instintivamente parece elegir lo que considera el papel más importante para él. Así, en la historia del Jardín del Edén, escogió el más superior. Pero el pequeño tiene apenas 4 años y solo está jugando a la fantasía. ¿Qué hay de nosotros? Somos adultos, o al menos adolescentes. Tenemos experiencia de vida; nosotros “sabemos mejor”. Pero, ¿con qué frecuencia nos ponemos a nosotros mismos en primer lugar, nos elegimos sobre los demás, nos ponemos en el lugar de Dios, decidimos que sabemos más que Dios?
Pablo escribió a los corintios hace casi 2000 años, pero fácilmente podría estar hablando de nosotros en 2022. En aquel entonces, como ahora, la gente pensaba que lo tenía todo resuelto. Creían que sabían cómo debían ser las cosas y cómo eran. ¿La salvación a través de un salvador que es asesinado violentamente en la ejecución de un criminal? No hay forma de que pueda ser así, en la mente de tantas personas, entonces y ahora. “la predicación de la cruz es una locura para los que van por el camino de la perdición”, observa Pablo, “en cambio, para los que van por el camino de la salvación, para nosotros, es fuerza de Dios”. Cristo crucificado es piedra de tropiezo y locura para aquellos que deciden que saben más que Dios mismo, pero “para los llamados… Cristo es la fuerza y la sabiduría de Dios”.
Somos llamados. Todos nosotros. Todos los días. ¿Qué hacemos con esa llamada? ¿Le respondemos? Creo que a todos nos gusta pensar que estamos respondiendo al llamado, pero nuestro Evangelio de hoy nos dice que tiene que ser más que eso. ¿Estamos entre las vírgenes que salen bien preparadas al encuentro de nuestro Señor? Podrías entrar en cualquier habitación llena de gente y estar bastante seguro de que la mayoría cree en Dios, e incluso si no, aún más creerán que son buenas personas. El problema es que nosotros, como personas, no somos los mejores jueces de lo buenos que somos. Somos mucho mejores para decidir que nuestras fallas no son “tan malas”. O que a Dios “realmente no le importa eso”. Ahí estamos, poniéndonos en el lugar de Dios, y al hacerlo, estamos saliendo al encuentro de nuestro Señor lejos de estar preparados.
¿Asi que, que hacemos? Jesús nos dijo: arrepientense y creen en el Evangelio. Fracasaremos, pero empezamos de nuevo, todos los días, si es necesario, ¡cada hora! Y debemos orar, orar siempre. Oren por gracia, misericordia, ayuda para amar y servir al Señor y a nuestro prójimo. Hemos sido redimidos por un Salvador crucificado y resucitado. Créenlo. Interiorizenlo. Vívenlo como si nada más importara.
Mike Karpus is a regular guy. He grew up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, graduated from Michigan State University and works as an editor. He is married to a Catholic school principal, raised two daughters who became Catholic school teachers at points in their careers, and now relishes his two grandchildren, including the 3-year-old who teaches him what the colors of Father’s chasubles mean. He has served on a Catholic School board, a pastoral council and a parish stewardship committee. He currently is a lector at Mass, a Knight of Columbus, Adult Faith Formation Committee member and a board member of the local Habitat for Humanity organization. But mostly he’s a regular guy.
Feature Image Credit: Nicholas BL, www.cathopic.com/photo/10893-muerte-crucificado
Foundress of the Little Sisters of the Poor. Born in Catalonia, Spain, she overcame many difficulties in her youth and eventually became a teacher at Lerida. Desirous to enter the religious life, she failed to win entry into the convent at the advice of her spiritual director, decided to launch her own congregation. On January 27, 1872, at Barbastro, Spain, she began the Little Sisters of the Poor, called the Little Sisters of the Abandoned Age. Considerable zeal, she had founded by the time of …
Heavenly Father,
Your infinite love for us has chosen a blessed angel in heaven
and appointed him our guide during this earthly pilgrimage.
Accept our thanks for so great a blessing.
Grant that we may experience the assistance
of our holy protector in all our necessities.
And you, holy, loving angel and guide,
watch over us with all the tenderness of your angelic heart.
Keep us always on the way that leads to heaven,
and cease not to pray for us
until we have …