A Humbled Heart

10-27-2019Weekly ReflectionFr. Julius Kundi

A news reporter once asked St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) if she had ever been tempted to be proud. Mother Theresa retorted with a smile, “Proud about what?” The reporter replied, “Why, about the wonderful things you have been doing for the poorest of the poor!” Then came her answer, “I never knew I had done anything, because it was God who worked in and through my Sisters and volunteers.”

Today's readings teach us that true humility and repentance for our sins must be the hallmark of our prayers. However, the central focus is on the evil of pride, the need for true humility and the role of God’s grace in our salvation.

Sirach helps us understand why the prayer of the tax collector in our Gospel resulted in his justification, while the Pharisee left the Temple unchanged: “The Lord is a God of justice, Who knows no favorites.” Although the religious man had much about which to brag, it was the tax collector’s heartfelt cry for mercy that was heard in Heaven.

The psalm assures us that when we count ourselves as lowly, brokenhearted, or crushed in spirit (this was the tax collector’s prayer posture in the Temple), God hears, and from all our distress He rescues us.

The apostles attributed all their abilities and successes (cures, conversions) to the power of God, working through them. Paul testifies to this in today’s Epistle, as he thanks the Lord for giving him strength during his imprisonment. He further tells us what the Psalmist sings today—that the Lord redeems the lives of His humble servants, that if we too serve Him willingly He will hear us in our distress, deliver us from evil, and bring us safely to His heavenly kingdom. This clearly points to the fact that only when we are humble in God’s presence can He do great things in us, as Our Lady so well declares, “He casts the mighty from their thrones and exalts the lowly.” Yes, the prayer of the lowly, the humble, pierces the clouds.

Indeed true humility does not only differentiates a saint from a sinner, genuine humility helps us recognize the essential truth about ourselves. It is honest self-appraisal, in God’s presence, with no pretences, masks or poses.

Fr. Julius

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