Saturday, July 30, 2011

The Humility that Saves

Many saints (St. Therese, for example), following the theme of Our Lord Jesus Christ, have often said: Humility is Truth. Jesus has repeated several times: “The person who humbles himself shall be exalted, the person who exalts himself shall be humbled” (Mt. 12:11; Lk. 18:14). Yes, Jesus humbled himself, preferring to work His miracles without much propaganda (see Mk. 9:9, and Lk.9:21)).

We too should follow that system of doing good works for the sincere love of God and the neighbor, not for show-off and propaganda, nor for the prospect of money and power, which become temptations for corruption.. After all, this is the more successful way as God Himself has promised. “Be careful not to parade your good deeds before men to attract their notice; by doing this you will lose all reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give alms, do not have it trumpeted before you; this is what the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win men’s admiration. I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you give alms, your left hand must not know what your right hand is doing; your almsgiving must be in secret, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you” (Mt. 6:1-4). Remember that the only true reward comes from God above. Naturally genuine humility must always be based on truth and discipline, not on false ambitions and laxity or insubordination.

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