Greatness

If I could see what I JUSTLY deserved – without the cover of INFINITE MERCY and FORGIVENESS and LOVE – I would die, instantly, of shame…

Divine Comedy (Botticelli)

Gosh I am a proud woman.

I do not mean to be, but I cannot help it.  I love it when people flatter me.  I like knowing that others think well of me.  When people listen to what I have to say I preen my proverbial feathers like a brightly coloured bird.

Sometimes I try to remind myself not to take pride in this because I am only an instrument of God’s Will, but if I am honest about it, I do that less than I should and take so much pleasure in that flattery that I am sure that I derive much harm from it…

Christ cautioned against this…

“The disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them, and said, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.’” (Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14).Saint John of the Cross said, “To be taken with love for a soul, God does not look on its greatness, but the greatness of its humility.”

And that is what makes the Blessed Virgin so GREAT.  The world waited for her word during the annunciation.  All of Heaven and Earth held its breath on the word of a young girl.  And she did not preen and bask in the attention.  Instead, she listened to instruction and reflected God’s own glory back to Him through the angel who came to her with the question of whether she would consent to be the Mother of God…

Saint Augustine explained the three things necessary to please God…  “in the first place, humility; in the second place, humility; in the third place, humility...”  There are no humble souls in Hell, because a humble soul knows how to follow the will of God and ask for forgiveness.  Lucifer was cast into Hell for the sin of pride, which meant that he chose to follow his own will rather than God’s Will…

And I have been reflecting on that today.  You see, if I need to rely on the mercy of God in order to be saved, then the most important virtue that I need is the virtue of HUMILITY…  After all, how can a proud soul bow down and ask for forgiveness?  How can a proud soul admit that they are wrong?  How can a proud soul ever admit that they are weak?

What is really required of a proud soul like mine is to see themselves through the PERFECTLY JUST eyes of God.  For if I could see what I JUSTLY deserved – without the cover of INFINITE MERCY and FORGIVENESS and LOVE – I would die, instantly, of shame…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.