Golda Meier once said,”Don’t be so humble- you’re not that great!” I love this saying because it is so true. In Heaven there are all sorts of saints. There are saints who were bold on earth and saints who were timid. Saints who were eloquent and saints who were tongue tied stammerers; Saints who were rich and saints who were poor. All kinds, shapes, sizes and many different charisms of saints but there was one thing that all of them had in common: They were all humble. No matter what lane on the One Path they followed they all were humble.
Our Blessed Saviour showed us all the way in humility from the very beginning by the circumstances surrounding and about His birth in the stable in Bethlehem, (which is Hebrew for House of Bread!) His dearest Mother was most humble and great Saint Joseph also showed the way of humility. Can you just imagine how much he wanted his beloved spouse and the Son of God to be born in better circumstances? I often think of this and how he must have wanted for something better but he did what God asked of him through the dreams that God sent him and through the ministry of the Angel of the Lord. Saint Joseph believed his dreams! Enough so to take his family into exile in Egypt! Amazing. What a wonderful example of obedience. He obeyed not only the Divine Authority but the civil authority as well and trusted God to make it all right. And God did make it all right. Good Saint Joseph had the Blessed Mother and the King of Kings at his deathbed. What a reward for a life of obedience and humility.
Our Blessed Mother also was raised to the highest that it is possible to have been raised, she who practiced humility from the beginning. She, the Queen of Humility bearing the King of Humility in the most humble of circumstance. All of this by way of example to us all.
Jesus Our Lord and King calls us to practice humility, as well. To practice that which is our own particular daily duty and thereby to become the saint that He wants to reward forever in Heaven.
There is one thing your sinful servant has learned in his life that I would like to pass on to you. God is so gracious and kind that though he wants us to be humble in order to more align ourselves to the graces He wishes to bestow upon us, He will grant this precious gift of humility without ever humiliating us! I used to think that humiliation was a necessary component of becoming humble. Yes and no. God may allow it if it will benefit us in the long run but it is not a forgone conclusion. The secret is knowing what humility really is. It is merely knowing and accepting the reality of who we are. Nothing. We are nothing without Christ. We can not attain anything worthwhile without Him and we can never hope to be with Him forever if we do not accept this simple but profound truth. With Christ we can do all things! With Christ we are powerful beings. With Christ we are friends of the Blessed Mother, the Holy Angels and all the Saints. Without Christ we are dung, to put it mildly, because dung has an actual good quality, it fertilizes the soil. Without Christ we are not even good fertilizer!
Remember that God loves you with an everlasting love. Love that melts the snows. Love that never wants us to be hurt but that wants to lift us up to the heights but to be like Him we must accept who we are without Him, accept the free grace He offers to become like Him and then accept whatever He sends us in order to accomplish that one, all important goal of this earthly life.
Think on the humility of Our Lord’s birth this year. Think on the humility of the Holy Family and the great strength it took to be obedient to the Word of God. Remember to love all and not to gossip. Pray for your enemies and strive to love those who are unloveable. Do the best you can to be willing to be willing and God will bless you beyond measure; Pressed down, shaken together and running over as scripture tells us. Pray for me and know I pray for all of you. I especially appreciate all the messages you send and above all the prayers you offer for me! Thank you with all my heart. As always, I send my priestly blessing to each of you and all those you love. Benedicat Vos, Omnipotens Deus+
