Humility

POINTS TO PONDER : HUMILITY

  • "I am not the centre of the universe. Jesus Christ is". See Homily : 14 August, 2005, Learning how to trust the Saviour.

  • "If we are truly following in the footsteps of Christ, we do not exalt ourselves. We do not make ourselves out to be anything more than what we are – which is, a servant of God, a lover of God. We are not something great. The Saviour Himself, who is the Lord of the whole universe after all, came in our midst, washed the apostles’ feet, and said : '"I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you"' (John 13:15). This means that we have to be servants of each other, as He continues to be our servant to this day. We are not greater than God. We are not greater than this Master who served all of the time that He was amongst us in the flesh". See Homily : 9 February, 2009, Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, We conform ourselves to Christ.

  • "That is how we like to think : I am just like everyone else ; I am just a regular sinner like everyone else. This is not the way it is. It cannot be the way it is, because this is not how the Lord teaches us in everything He is saying to us and doing amongst us. The publican is not making any comparisons with anyone else. He is saying : 'Have mercy on me, the sinner'. He is only speaking about himself and his own condition to the Lord, and asking the Lord to save him, heal him, correct him and help him in repentance". [See previous homily of 9 February, 2009.]

  • "The fact is, my dear brothers and sisters, that the Church is a hospital for sinners. We are all more or less in the same boat. We are all more or less tempted in rather the same way, as anyone who is hearing confessions will tell you. The sins of human beings are very repetitive. We are all just about the same". See Homily : 24 September, 2005, The Example of Saint Peter the Aleut.

  • "Our Lord says that it is important for us to humble ourselves like little children. This, according to my understanding of it, truly is the essence of the way of a Christian". See Homily : 27 August, 2005, Child-like Humility.

  • "The child looks to the parents for everything, and expects the parents to protect him or her in everything. This is precisely how the Lord wants us to be towards Him. I think that people who are on farms are still in the best position to experience this sense of child-like humility. ... Farmers have always had this basic relationship of trust with the Lord which has been life-giving". [See previous homily of 24 September, 2005.]

  • "This child in us is a direct connection between us and Him. Let us ask the Lord this morning in our worship to renew this child-like love in our , and to freshen up this confidence in Him. It is this that is life-giving". [See previous homily of 24 September, 2005.]

    • hearts

  • "This is the way for you and for me – self-emptying, self-sacrificing, selfless love – not putting ourselves first and in front of everyone and everything (which Canadian society says we are supposed to do). We must do the opposite : to be the last, and to be happy to be the last ; not to be praised for everything, but to be satisfied to be serving Christ, to be doing good things in our lives, to be living according to the talents that God has given, and offering them to Him ; not to be asking to be thanked for everything that we do, but to be grateful that we can serve the Lord in helping other people, in feeding other people who are hungry, in consoling other people who are grief-stricken for one reason or another, in being useful to God according to the gifts He has given. I do not need the thanks of human beings. It is enough satisfaction to know that these things that are being done are being done to His glory". See Homily : 28 August, 2005, Being Imitators of the Mother of God.

  • "The Saviour emptied Himself and became least of all so that the Father ultimately raised Him up and exalted Him above everyone and everything. Exaltation comes only after self-emptying humility. Humility is not being a grovelling creeper, like Uriah Heep. It is knowing who we are in Christ, having confidence in Christ’s love, and knowing that we were created to be good. At the same time, humility is understanding that we do not need to be noticed ; we do not need to be praised. We do what we do because of love of God, in the same manner as the Mother of God did, and still does. She loves God above everything". [See previous homily of 28 August, 2005.]