LOVE REQUIRES HUMILITY - 03/19/23 (Saturday of the Third Week of Lent)
Luke 18:10–13
“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’”
For the full readings, click here:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031823.cfm
Blessed Saturday! In the gospel reading yesterday, our Lord Jesus shows to us that the two most important commandments are the love for God and the love for our neighbors. Everything is about love. But, true love requires humility. Any action that "appears" to be done out of love but have pride in it is not pleasing to our Lord. This is what Jesus is revealing to us in the gospel reading for today based on the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. The Pharisee gave thanks to God, but his prayer was really focused on himself rather than on God. He was glad that he was better than other people. Because the Pharisee was focused on himself, he ended up loving himself even more than God who should be our sole focus on our prayer. Because the Pharisee looked at himself as the standard of holiness, it's easy for him to look down on other people when he witnessed their sins. Though it's true that we should persevere in our spiritual life, we should remember to reject the temptation of thinking that we are greater than other people. It's because the virtues that we may see of ourselves come from God, and the moment we become guilty of pride, that's the time that we will go backwards in our journey and fall to more sins.
True humility is seen in the example of the prayer of the tax collector. He knew that he was unworthy of God's graces which was the reason why he could not lift his eyes to heaven, and all he prayed was, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." He knew deep within himself that he was a sinner in need of God's mercy. This is the truth about us. We are sinners who are incapable of doing good by our own strength. This doesn't mean that it's wrong to give thanks to God. But, we should have the right intention for doing so. When we give thanks to Him for temporal blessings, for virtues and for the grace to resist temptations, it should be done with humility. This is done by recognizing that our Lord has bestowed them upon us because of His goodness despite our sinfulness and brokenness. Through this, we will learn to be more grateful to God and to love Him even more. And, as we become more aware of God's mercy for us, we will not be surprised or be angry with our fellow sinners because we don't think that we are better or greater than them. How is our disposition in our prayer? Do we have the tendency to think highly of ourselves? If yes, let's remember that God wants us to be humble because it is through humility thar He will elevate us to eternal life.
Amen +
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, be with us always until the hour of our death. Amen. +
May the Lord + bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen. +
Reflection by: Dominic
Fasting and Abstinence during Lent:
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resource/56337/fasting-and-abstinence-during-lent
Examination of Conscience and Guide to Sacrament of Confession:
https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/examination-of-conscience/
Ultimate Catholic Parents Guide:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ls6IcexZAls
Summary and Defense of Catholic Teachings:
https://www.catholic.com/tract/pillar-of-fire-pillar-of-truth
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