22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) - 28 August
28th August 2022
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) - 28 August
“From humility of heart proceed serenity of mind, gentleness of conduct, interior peace, and every good.” - St Paul of the Cross
A reflection on today's themes of pride and humility by the Venerable Archbishop Fulton J Sheen:
"Pride it was that made Satan fall from heaven and man fall from grace. By its very nature such undue self-exaltation could be cured only by self-humiliation. That is why He who might have been born in a palace by the Tiber as befitting His Majesty as the Son of God, chose to appear before men in a stable as a child wrapped in swaddling bands.
"Glory in humility for humility is truth and the path to true greatness.
"God resists the proud. The Pharisee who praised his own good deeds in the forefront of the temple is condemned; the poor publican in the rear of the temple, who calls himself a sinner and strikes his breast in a plea for pardon, goes to his house justified. The harlots and the publicans who are conscious of their sin enter the Kingdom of Heaven before the Scribes and the Pharisees, who are conscious of their righteousness. The Heavenly Father is thanked for concealing His Wisdom from the self-wise and the conscious intellectuals and for revealing it to the simple: ‘I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You hid these things from the wise and the learned and revealed them to these little ones.’ I am sure that anyone who has had experience with the proud will bear witness to the truth of this statement: If my own eternal salvation were conditioned upon saving the soul of one self-wise man who prided himself on his learning, or one hundred of the most morally corrupt men and women of the streets, I should choose the easier task of converting the hundred. Nothing is more difficult to conquer in all the world than intellectual pride.
"Humility is not an underestimation of our talents or gifts or powers, nor is it their exaggeration. Humility is truth or the recognition of gifts as gifts, faults as faults. Humility is dependence on God as pride is independence of Him. The humble soul, conscious of his dependence on God, is always the thankful soul. How many singers, orators, musicians, actors, doctors, professors ever think of thanking God for the special talents which made them outstanding in their profession? Out of the ten lepers who were made clean only one returned to give thanks. ‘Were not ten made clean? Where are the other nine?’, probably represents the proportion of the ungrateful who thank not because they are not humble.
"The humble soul will always avoid praising his own good works and thus making void the virtues of his deeds. The humble man, even though he be great in the eyes of the world, will esteem himself less than others, for he will always suspect that their internal greatness may far overreach his insignificant external greatness." (The Seven Capital Sins)
Litany of Humility
(Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930), Secretary of State for Pope Saint Pius X)
O Jesus! Meek and humble of heart, hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being honoured, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being praised, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being approved, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being despised, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected, deliver me, Jesus.
That others may be loved more than I.
That others may be esteemed more than I.
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease.
That others may be chosen and I set aside.
That others may be praised and I unnoticed.
That others may be preferred to me in everything.
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. Amen. 💖🙏💐
Anima Christi (St Ignatius of Loyola)
Soul of Christ, sanctify me. Body of Christ, save me. Blood of Christ, inebriate me. Water from the side of Christ, wash me. Passion of Christ, strengthen me. O Good Jesus, hear me. Within Thy wounds hide me. Never let me be separated from Thee. From the evil one protect me. At the hour of my death, call me; and bid me come to Thee. That with Thy saints and angels, I may praise Thee forever and ever. Amen. 🙏💖💐
The Prayer of Jesus (The Unity Prayer) by Elizabeth Kindelmann, T.OCarm
My adorable Jesus, May our feet journey together.
May our hands gather in unity.
May our hearts beat in unison.
May our souls be in harmony.
May our thoughts be as one.
May our ears listen to the silence together.
May our glances profoundly penetrate each other.
May our lips pray together to gain mercy from the Eternal Father. Amen. 💖🙏💐