DAILY HOMILIES #Humble

Are you troubled? Is your heart restless? You can’t find sleep at night? Get down on your knees and talk to Jesus. Go to the Blessed Sacrament and sit before Jesus. Carry His Yoke – Keep doing what is right. However tough as this yoke may seem, it is lighter than the yoke of running to the devil for a solution or abandoning your faith out of annoyance.

Whenever you make any promise or plan to do anything, be humble enough to add “by the grace of God” or “If God permits.” In Psalm 20:7-8, we read: “Some boast of chariots, and some of horses; but we boast of the name of the Lord our God. They will collapse, but we shall rise and stand upright.” If you must boast about anything, boast of the name of God.

The devil will never tempt you with something you don’t want. Hence, we cannot completely blame the devil for our fall. For instance, Adam and Eve fell because they wanted to be like God. The devil exploits our desires (whether good or bad) by offering shortcuts.

One shining virtue we should all have is humility. Without it, we cannot learn from others or grow. We should never do anything to attract praise or exaltation to ourselves; let us allow God himself to exalt us.

God does not reject the prayer of the humble and contrite, who can honestly beat his chest and say, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” Don’t be ashamed to pray right after you realise you have sinned. Your heart may condemn you, but God will never condemn you.

Mary and Joseph brought the baby Jesus to the temple to do what the law prescribed. They knew that Jesus is God, yet they obeyed the law, presenting God to God. In other words, they knew there was no need to bring the baby Jesus to the temple, but in humility (not wanting to appear like the special ones in their community), they followed the law.

Saul did not fear disobeying God’s instructions because he felt greater than Samuel. David’s anointing was to teach Saul a lesson – to show him that the same anointing that brought him to glory could function in others. Regardless of your office today, never forget you are dust.

Christmas is such a wonderful love story. God’s way of vocalising “I Love You” was by giving us the greatest gift ever: the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. It doesn’t end there; God gave us Jesus Christ to die for us. Could there be any better way of saying: “I Love You”?

While David opted to build a house for God, Mary agreed to become a living tabernacle for God. Humility is not necessarily thinking less of ourselves but giving God His due.

Andrew was the first person to be called by Jesus to be His disciple. In John’s Gospel, Andrew was one of the two disciples of John the Baptist who left him to follow Jesus. This was after John the Baptist announced: “Behold, the Lamb of God!” Lesson One: Andrew did not doubt John the Baptist; he had not seen Jesus before or witnessed any miracle but believed. Andrew is a Man of Faith

The moment we see ourselves as better than others, we start going down. In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus, having put the Pharisees to shame by healing a man with dropsy, taught us a lesson in humility. Jesus described pride as taking a seat at the high table (when invited for a ceremony) only for the host to politely ask you to step down for a more important guest.

God can use anybody. However, like a pencil that must be sharpened in order to write well, we must learn to humble ourselves to become useful instruments in God’s vineyard. Let not your pride become a stumbling block for those who seek to draw close to God.