Tag: humility
On Staying Humble
An old man said, “Every time a thought of superiority or vanity (pride) moves you, examine your conscience to see if you have kept all the commandments, if you love your enemies and are grieved at their sins, if you consider yourself as an unprofitable servant and the greatest sinner of all. Even then, do… Read More ›
Simple Gratitude
My own personal task is not simply that of poet and writer (still less commentator, pseudo-prophet); it is basically to praise God out of an inner center of silence, gratitude, and ‘awareness.’ This can be realized in a life that apparently accomplishes nothing. Without centering on accomplishment or non-accomplishment, my task is simply the breathing… Read More ›
What is humility?
An old man was asked, “What is humility?” and he said in reply, “Humility is a great work, and a work of God. The way of humility is to undertake bodily labor and believe yourself a sinner and make yourself subject to all.” Then a brother said, “What does it mean, to be subject to… Read More ›
A Walk into the Dark
The spiritual life does not come cheap. It is not a stroll down a Mary Poppins path with a candy-store God who gives sweets and miracles. It is a walk into the dark with the God who is the light that leads us through darkness. Darkness, I have discovered, is the way we come to… Read More ›
Because of Your Humility
As Abba Macarius was returning to his cell from the marsh carrying palm-leaves, the devil met him with a sharp sickle and would have struck him but he could not. He cried out, “Great is the violence I suffer from you, Macarius, for when I want to hurt you, I cannot. But whatever you do,… Read More ›
The New Creature God Seeks
For to despise the present age, not to love transitory things, unreservedly to stretch out the mind in humility to God and our neighbor, to preserve patience against offered insults and, with patience guarded, to repel the pain of malice from the heart, to give one’s property to the poor, not to covet that of… Read More ›
What Does God Seek of Us?
An old man was asked, ‘How can I find God?’ He said, ‘In fasting, in watching, in labours, in devotion, and, above all, in discernment. I tell you, many have injured their bodies without discernment and have gone away from us having achieved nothing. Our mouths smell bad through fasting, we know the Scriptures by… Read More ›
Litany of Humility
O Jesus! Meek and humble of heart, hear me. From the desire of being esteemed, R/deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being loved, R/ From the desire of being extolled, R/ From the desire of being honored, R/ From the desire of being praised, R/ From the desire of being preferred to others, R/… Read More ›
Phoenix bishop emphasizes importance of humility in life of St. Juan Diego
Phoenix, Ariz., Aug 7, 2009 / 11:15 pm (CNA).- Nearly 1,500 people gathered this morning in Phoenix, Arizona to celebrate a Votive Mass of St. Juan Diego for the second day of the International Marian Congress. Bishop Thomas Olmsted, the principal celebrant of the Mass, spoke to the participants about the Mexican saint, stressing his… Read More ›
Conversion and Humility
One of the early experiences on the way to conversion is the sense of being trapped in sinfulness. Half-desiring an escape but not perceiving any possible means of release. For the eye of the mind is unable to fix itself firmly on what it had so fleetingly glimpsed. It is subject to the constraint of… Read More ›