The Lord is near to those who are of a contrite heart, and those who are humbled in spirit He will save. The publican addresses to God a humble prayer, and trusts, not in his merits, but in divine mercy: standing afar off, he dared not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, O God, have mercy upon me a sinner.
The Lord, who resists the proud but gives his grace to the humble, forgives and justifies him. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, and that man was not.
The tax collector "was far off, and therefore God came near more easily.... Whether he is far off or not depends on you. Love and he will come near; love and he will dwell in you".
We can also learn from this publican how our prayer should be: humble, attentive, trusting. Trying not to make it a monologue in which we turn to ourselves, to the virtues we think we possess.
At the heart of the whole parable beats an idea that the Lord wants to inculcate in us: the need for humility as the foundation of our entire relationship with God and with others. It is the first stone of this building under construction that is our interior life. "Do not want to be like that golden weather vane on the great building: however much it shines and however high it is, it does not matter for the solidity of the work.
"May you be like an old ashlar hidden in the foundations, underground, where no one can see you: the house will not collapse because of you".
When a person feels put off, wounded in the smallest details, he should think that he is not yet truly humble: it is the occasion to accept one's own smallness and be less proud: "you are not humble when you humble yourself, but when you are humbled and you carry it for Christ".
The help of the Blessed Virgin is our best guarantee to go forward in this virtue. "Mary is, at the same time, a Mother of mercy and tenderness, to whom no one has ever had recourse in vain; abandon yourself full of trust in her motherly womb, ask her to obtain for you this virtue (of humility) which she so highly prized; do not be afraid of not being attended to, Mary will ask it for you from that God who exalts the humble and reduces the proud to nothing; and since Mary is omnipotent near her Son, she will certainly be heard." After considering the Lord's teachings and contemplating the humble example of St. Mary, we can end our prayer with this petition: "Lord, remove pride from my life; break my self-love, this desire to assert myself and impose myself on others. Make the foundation of my personality to be identification with you."
The Lord is near to those who are of a contrite heart, and those who are humbled in spirit He will save. The publican addresses to God a humble prayer, and trusts, not in his merits, but in divine mercy: standing afar off, he dared not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, O God, have mercy upon me a sinner.
The Lord, who resists the proud but gives his grace to the humble, forgives and justifies him. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, and that man was not.
The tax collector "was far off, and therefore God came near more easily.... Whether he is far off or not depends on you. Love and he will come near; love and he will dwell in you".
We can also learn from this publican how our prayer should be: humble, attentive, trusting. Trying not to make it a monologue in which we turn to ourselves, to the virtues we think we possess.
At the heart of the whole parable beats an idea that the Lord wants to inculcate in us: the need for humility as the foundation of our entire relationship with God and with others. It is the first stone of this building under construction that is our interior life. "Do not want to be like that golden weather vane on the great building: however much it shines and however high it is, it does not matter for the solidity of the work.
"May you be like an old ashlar hidden in the foundations, underground, where no one can see you: the house will not collapse because of you".
When a person feels put off, wounded in the smallest details, he should think that he is not yet truly humble: it is the occasion to accept one's own smallness and be less proud: "you are not humble when you humble yourself, but when you are humbled and you carry it for Christ".
The help of the Blessed Virgin is our best guarantee to go forward in this virtue. "Mary is, at the same time, a Mother of mercy and tenderness, to whom no one has ever had recourse in vain; abandon yourself full of trust in her motherly womb, ask her to obtain for you this virtue (of humility) which she so highly prized; do not be afraid of not being attended to, Mary will ask it for you from that God who exalts the humble and reduces the proud to nothing; and since Mary is omnipotent near her Son, she will certainly be heard." After considering the Lord's teachings and contemplating the humble example of St. Mary, we can end our prayer with this petition: "Lord, remove pride from my life; break my self-love, this desire to assert myself and impose myself on others. Make the foundation of my personality to be identification with you."