Signs

 

TEXTS OF ST. JOSEMARIA

April 26, 2026 “It is a great thing to know oneself to be nothing before God” It is a great thing to know oneself to be nothing before God, because that is how things are. (Furrow, 260) Allow me to remind you that among other evident signs of a lack of humility are: --Thinking that what you do or say is better than what others do or say; --Always wanting to get your own way; --Arguing when you are not right or -- when you are -- insisting stubbornly or with bad manners; --Giving your opinion without being asked for it, when charity does not demand you to do so; --Despising the point of view of others; --Not being aware that all the gifts and qualities you have are on loan; --Not acknowledging that you are unworthy of all honour or esteem, even the ground you are treading on or the things you own; --Mentioning yourself as an example in conversation; --Speaking badly about yourself, so that they may form a good opinion of you, or contradict you; --Making excuses when rebuked; --Hiding some humiliating faults from your director, so that he may not lose the good opinion he has of you; --Hearing praise with satisfaction, or being glad that others have spoken well of you; --Being hurt that others are held in greater esteem than you; --Refusing to carry out menial tasks; --Seeking or wanting to be singled out; --Letting drop words of self-praise in conversation, or words that might show your honesty, your wit or skill, your professional prestige ... ; --Being ashamed of not having certain possessions ... (Furrow, 263) Weekly texts

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When are we truly humble?

 April 17 

When are we truly humble? 

When we refuse to judge and criticize others. 

When we foster kindly thoughts toward others. 

When we rejoice in the good others accomplish for Jesus. 

When we find an excuse for the failures of others. 

When we are happy and cheerful with the poor, the sick, and the dying. 

When we have joy in the hour of humiliation. 

Then we are truly humble after the heart of Jesus.

Thirsting for God: Daily Meditations 

Saint Mother Teresa

Angelo Scolozzi

Queen of all vices

 

Pride vs. Humility

 "Pride makes us artificial, and humility makes us real." Thomas Merton

1, Humility is the key to gaining wisdom. "When pride comes, then comes disgrace; but with the humble is wisdom." Proverbs 11:2

2. God looks to the humble to work through. "All these things my hand has made, and so all these things are mine, says the LORD. But this is the man to whom I will look, he that is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word." Isaiah 66:2

3. Humility prepares the avenue to your heart for God's grace. "But He gives more grace; therefore, it says, 'God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." James 4.6, 1 Peter 5:5

4. Humility can defuse arguments. "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."

5. You don't have to put on a false front when you are humble. Jesus warned the disciples, "Beware of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." Luke 12:1

Bonus: "Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues; hence in the soul in which this virtue does not exist, there cannot be any other virtue except in mere appearance." 

Jeff Cavins, Daily Reflection, May 21 Pride vs Humility! Mark 9:30-37

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The Insolent Pride of Man

 

"Such disregard for the authority of sacred and divine law in public life, Leo wrote, “almost tends to the removal of the Christian faith from our midst, and, if that were possible, of the banishment of God Himself from the earth.” He went on to describe a state of affairs which bears an uncanny resemblance to our own turbulent and anxious times:

When men’s minds are raised to such a height of insolent pride, what wonder is it that the greater part of the human race should have fallen into such disquiet of mind and be buffeted by waves so rough that no one is suffered to be free from anxiety and peril? When religion is once discarded it follows of necessity that the surest foundations of the public welfare must give way, whilst God, to inflict on His enemies the punishment they so richly deserve, has left them the prey of their own evil desires, so that they give themselves up to their passions and finally wear themselves out by excess of liberty.

This is one of the great themes, perhaps the great theme, of the pontificate of Pope Leo XIII. When man, in his pride, attempts to “free” himself from God, he instead becomes a slave to his passions. When man forgets God, he loses sight of himself."

June is for the Sacred Heart

2023 Virtue/Vice

 

Pride is heavy...

 Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus offers to free us from the burden of our pride.

What is it that makes our lives heavy and weighed down? Precisely the burden of our own egos, the weight of one’s own self. When I am puffing myself up with my own self-importance, I’m laboring under all that weight. Jesus is saying, “Become a child. Take that weight off your shoulders and put on the weight of my yoke, the yoke of my obedience to the Father.” 

Anthony de Mello proposed the following parable to describe us prideful souls. A group of people sit on a bus that is passing through the most glorious countryside, but they have the shades pulled down on all the windows and are bickering about who gets front seat on the bus. This is the burden of pride: preferring the narrow and stuffy confines of the bus to the beauty that is effortlessly available all around. This, of course, is why Jesus can say, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” What the Lord proposes is not a freedom from suffering but, what is much more important, a freedom from the self.

Gospel Reflections

Daily Gospel Reflections from Bishop Barron