Praised be Jesus and Mary.
In today's Gospel, our Lord condemns the scribes and the Pharisees for seeking the praise of others
by drawing attention to their religious practices.
In a way, the scribes and Pharisees wanted to be good models of observant Jews,
but in their misguided zeal for religion, they sought respect and honor for themselves rather than for God.
They made the practice of their faith,
a burden rather than a joy for the people they were supposed to serve.
And a true respect for God and for his ways inclines us to godly humility and simplicity of heart,
wanting to please God alone and not caring what others may think.
So, Jesus really, you know, was he really against calling anyone, you know, teacher or father?
Or was he just directing this sharp rebuke to the scribes and Pharisees?
Jesus seemed to be warning both his disciples and the religious leaders.
About the temptation to seek titles and honors,
to increase one's reputation and admiration of others.
The scriptures give ample warnings about the danger of self-seeking pride.
You know, we read in the book of Proverbs,
Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.
And also, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
So, respect for God and his ways inclines us to humility and simplicity of heart.
But just what is true humility and why should we embrace it?
And why should we embrace it?
And why should we embrace it?
And why should we embrace it?
And why should we embrace it?
And why should we embrace it?
It's not too popular a virtue today.
People equate humility and meekness with weakness.
But, you know, for starters, true humility is not feeling bad about ourselves
or having a low opinion of ourselves
or thinking of ourselves as inferior to others.
or having a low opinion of ourselves as inferior to others.
It's not about thinking less of ourselves,
but thinking of ourselves less often, you know.
It frees us from preoccupation with ourselves,
whereas low self-esteem tends to focus our attention on ourselves.
Humility is truth.
Humility is truth.
In self-understanding, in truth, in action.
You know, viewing ourselves truthfully with sober judgment.
And it means seeing ourselves the way that God sees us.
A humble person makes a realistic assessment of oneself
without any illusion to be something,
one is not. A truly humble person
regards oneself neither smaller
nor larger than they really are.
So, you know,
humility is the queen or the foundation
of all the other virtues because it enables us
to see and to judge correctly the way that God
sees. Humility helps us to be
teachable so that we can acquire true
knowledge, you know, wisdom and
an honest view of reality.
It directs our energy
and zeal and ambition to give ourselves
to something, someone, you know, greater
than ourselves.
And it frees us to love and to serve others
selflessly for their sake, you know,
rather than our own.
St. Paul, he gives us
the greatest example and the model
for humility in the person of
Jesus.
A letter to the Philippians.
He says that he took the form of a servant
and he humbled himself becoming obedient,
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
and our Lord himself wants us to follow that example.
You know, love one another as I have loved you.
Empty yourselves of all pride.
Learn from me, he says,
for I am meek and humble of heart.
Thank you for watching.