“When pride comes, then comes disgrace” (Proverbs 11:2).
In “Furrow” at 260, Saint Josemaria wrote, “It is a great thing to know oneself to be nothing before God, because that is how things are.”
And I have been reflecting on those words. You see, I have often remarked that the truth is the truth is the truth. And it does not matter if someone believes me or not, and it does not matter if someone accuses me of lying or not. All that matters is that the truth is the truth. For God came into the world as “the Way the Truth and the Light” (John 14:6).
And what that really means is that there is ONE undeniable truth. Now, to make myself feel better, I could convince myself that there are lots of grey areas in relation to the truth. To make myself feel safer, I could convince myself that when God calls something a sin, it is not really a sin, but rather it is something that I am able to reason my way out of. But the reality is that on the day of my final judgement, when I stand in front of the Eternal and Perfect Just Judge, there will be no lawyer to speak for me in careful speak to reason my way out of each of my sins. Rather – God, upon whose reason my own ability to reason was modelled – will already understand with PERFECT justice – the perfect truth about everything without my being required to say a single word…
There is a subtle temptation to use reason to rationalise everything and to try to use my intellect to justify everything. In this way, I am tempted to rely – with prude – on my own ability and ignore God’s power to affect the course of my life. In this same way I am tempted to rationalise all steps of my life and to action them in a manner that means that they are unlikely to result in a true repentance. After all, if my apology sounds like, “I am sorry God for sinning, but the REASON that I did it was …” It is unlikely that I am really sorry.
After all, what REASON could there possibly be for Christ – God the Son – to suffer and die for my sins. What REASON could I possibly use to justify myself to Him for the sacrifice He made for me? After all this means that I am “So filled with love for itself, it turns its back on the love of God…” (Genesis 3:5).
In “Christ is Passing”, Saint Josemaria says at 6, “The fight against pride has to be a constant battle, to such an extent that someone once said that pride only disappears twenty‑four hours after each of us has died. It is the arrogance of the Pharisee whom God cannot transform because he finds in him the obstacle of self-sufficiency. It is the haughtiness which leads to despising other men, to lording it over them, to mistreating them. For ‘when pride comes, then comes disgrace’ (Proverbs 11:2).”
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.