DAILY HOMILIES #humility

Knowing the weaknesses of others should not make us puffed with pride, it should make us think of ways to help them up. This requires humility; humility to know that your level in life came not by your power but by the grace of God and others who helped you in the past.

If you ever find yourself in a position of service, consider it a privilege, an opportunity to improve yourself, to learn, and to grow. Serving others helps you to understand people, it makes you discover your talents and acquire new skills. To the world, it may appear as though you are simply slaving for the benefit of others but in truth, service rendered with a cheerful heart makes you a star.

Make the most of this Lent; apply yourself fully to all the spiritual exercises with sincerity and a genuine purpose. Do not show off. Joel says: “Rend your heart, not your garment.” Jesus warns: “Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for you will have no reward in heaven.”

Jesus does not condemn the desire to be great, instead, he brought a little child into the midst of the disciples to illustrate that true greatness is not really about lording it over others but serving them and bringing oneself down in humility.

If we want our children to grow strong and wise, we must, like Mary and Joseph constantly present them to God. Never neglect to bring your children to church. Let them attend catechism classes. Let them be at Sunday School. It is very important. Do not assume that your children will get to know God or make the right choices in life on their own. Bring them to God. As the book of Proverbs says: “Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray.” (Proverbs 22:6)

We cannot get to heaven if we are just trying to be average Christians concerned only about doing the minimum. We cannot get to heaven if we are only after material blessing and earthly prosperity. We cannot get to heaven if we are not ready to sacrifice the pleasures of this world. To sell everything one has is to willingly lose those things which the world prides about. It is choosing to live according to the beatitudes, being meek, poor in spirit, merciful, pure in heart, peaceful and hungry for righteousness

Finally, let us join our psalmist today to pray: “O God be gracious and bless us.” It is good to receive powerful prophetic utterances on this first day of the New Year but today should not be your last day of stepping your feet into the church this year. The blessings you receive today are not different from the blessings of every other day. Jesus taught us to pray for our daily bread – not our yearly bread. That is to say, Jesus wants us to pray every day. Continue to pray, don’t stop.

John the Baptist speaks in the present tense: “Even now, the axe is laid to the root of the trees… his winnowing fork is in his hand…” Meaning “now is the time; the harvest has begun already.” Live your life like someone who knows that death is just around the corner.

There is an African proverb that says, if a child washes his hands very well, he would be invited to seat at the table and eat with elders. In other words, if we are humble, regardless of our size and status, we would be granted access to high places.

The Centurion’s action teaches us an important lesson in caring for our workers. The Centurion was in charge of a hundred soldiers yet he found time to come looking for Jesus because of one servant; not even his son or a soldier. How lucky this servant was to have had such a good master. Can those working for me say the same about me?

From His encounter with Zacchaeus, Jesus teaches us today that in winning a soul for God, love must come first. Jesus showed Zacchaeus so much love and honored him by going to eat in Zacchaeus' home. In this way, even without preaching a single verse from the scripture, Zacchaeus was moved to repentance.

The moment we begin to see ourselves as better than others, the moment we begin to talk badly about others as “good-for-nothings,” God teaches us a lesson; He humiliates us before their very eyes.