Humbly submit your will to God (Thy Will be done) and consecrate yourself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through Mary and Joseph.
Jesus addressed this parable
to those who were convinced of their own righteousness
and despised everyone else.
“Two people went up to the temple area to pray;
one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.
The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity —greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week,
and I pay tithes on my whole income.’
But the tax collector stood off at a distance
and would not even raise his eyes to heaven
but beat his breast and prayed,
‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’
I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former;
for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,
and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” LK 18:9-14
Humility means “of the earth”. You are dust and to dust you shall return. Do you pray because you want to or because you have to? When we realize we are nothing without God, we will recognize all we have is from God. Faith, Hope, and Love are supernatural virtues that are direct ways to God. These are gifts from God. We cannot earn them. Grace, without it we cannot get to heaven, a free gift from God because He loves us and wants us to be back with Him. Grace is God’s life in us and is necessary to attain sainthood.
If we are serious about getting to heaven, then we need to bring ourselves to God’s grace and continue to train ourselves in loving God and neighbor better. God is thinking about us and loving us right now, if He wasn’t we would not exist. God gave us life, He alone deals life and death. God sustains life. We are breathing right now because God is thinking about us. Amazing! I need to get my priorities straight!
2559 “Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God.”2 But when we pray, do we speak from the height of our pride and will, or “out of the depths” of a humble and contrite heart?3 He who humbles himself will be exalted;4 humility is the foundation of prayer. Only when we humbly acknowledge that “we do not know how to pray as we ought,”5 are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer. “Man is a beggar before God.”6 (2613, 2763) Catechism of the Catholic Church
Quotes from the saints on humility from The Catholic Reader
True humility consists in being content with all that God is pleased to ordain for us, believing ourselves unworthy to be called His servants. – St. Teresa of Jesus
To be taken with love for a soul, God does not look on its greatness, but the greatness of its humility. –St John of the Cross, OCD
There is something in humility which strangely exalts the heart. –Saint Augustine
It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels. –Saint Augustine
Be humble towards God and gentle with your neighbor. Judge and accuse no one but yourself, and ever excuse others. Speak of God always to praise and glorify Him, speak of your neighbor only with respect — do not speak of yourself at all, either well or ill. – St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
The truly humble reject all praise for themselves, and refer it all to God. – St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori
In the difficulties which are placed before me, why should I not act like a donkey? When one speaks ill of him – the donkey says nothing. When he is mistreated – he says nothing. When he is forgotten – he says nothing. When no food is given him – he says nothing. When he is made to advance – he says nothing. When he is despised – he says nothing. When he is overburdened – he says nothing. The true servant of God must do likewise, and say with David: “Before Thee I have become like a beast of burden.” — St. Alphonsus Rodriguez
What will be the crown of those who, humble within and humiliated without, have imitated the humility of our Savior in all its fullness! — St. Bernadette
He who wants to learn true humility should reflect upon the Passion of Jesus. (267) — St Faustina, Divine Mercy in my Soul
The soul’s true greatness is in loving God and in humbling oneself in His presence, completely forgetting oneself and believing oneself to be nothing; because the Lord is great, but He is well-pleased only with the humble; He always opposes the proud. — St Faustina, Divine Mercy in my Soul
Let us therefore give ourselves to God with a great desire to begin to live thus, and beg Him to destroy in us the life of the world of sin, and to establish His life within us. — St. John Eudes
To be pleased at correction and reproofs shows that one loves the virtues which are contrary to those faults for which he is corrected and reproved. And, therefore, it is a great sign of advancement in perfection. — St. Francis de Sales
No man can attain to the knowledge of God but by humility. The way to mount high is to descend. — Bl. Giles of Assisi
If you would rise, shun luxury, for luxury lowers and degrades. — St John Chrysostom
Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues hence, in the soul in which this virtue does not exist there cannot be any other virtue except in mere appearance. ~ St. Augustine
Our Lord loves you and loves you tenderly; and if He does not let you feel the sweetness of His love, it is to make you more humble and abject in your own eyes. -St. Pio of Pietrelcino
A truly humble person never believes that he can be wronged in anything. Truly, we ought to be shamed to resent whatever is said or done against us; for it is the greatest shame in the world to see that our Creator bears so many insults from His creatures, and that we resent even a little word that is contradictory. – St. Teresa
Do you wish to be great? Then begin by being. Do you desire to construct a vast and lofty fabric? Think first about the foundations of humility. The higher your structure is to be, the deeper must be its foundation. -Saint Augustine
We should let God be the One to praise us and not praise ourselves. For God detests those who commend themselves. Let others applaud our good deeds. –Pope St. Clement I
If humble souls are contradicted, they remain calm; if they are calumniated, they suffer with patience; if they are little esteemed, neglected, or forgotten, they consider that their due; if they are weighed down with occupations, they perform them cheerfully. – St. Vincent de Paul
The first degree of humility is the fear of God, which we should constantly have before our eyes. -St. Louis de Blois
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
Learn to be humble, then it will never be a job or duty to pray. It will be from your heart and prayer from the heart is the key that unlocks God’s heart-Padre Pio
Today’s challenge: Be humble. Pray, then be at peace knowing you are closer to God. If you desire humility, it starts at the foot of the Cross, read something about the Passion. Anything on the Shroud of Turin, Anne Catherine Emmerich on “The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ”, St. Alphonsus de Liguori “The Passion and Death of Jesus Christ” are good places to start. Do the Stations of the Cross every Friday throughout the year.
Be a servant, become a saint!
#Christian YOLO
Today’s gospel is about how those who humble themselves will be exalted and those who exalt themselves will be humbled. So, what that means is that the person that thinks that he is the best will be exalted, and the person that knows his wrongs and admits them will be humbled.