Redeemed

“May the God of peace Himself make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and He will also accomplish it.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).

The Apostle Paul (Dustin Parent)

It is a very serious thing to understand properly the importance of humility.

I have heard it said that there are no humble souls in Hell and no proud souls in Heaven.

That is one thing to hear theoretically, but quite another when I factor in all the imagined hurts to my pride and all the possible ways that I am acting in a manner that is simply not going to help me to get to my final destination in Heaven…

Saint Ambrose displayed humility, he said, “I will glory not because I am righteous, but because I am redeemed; I will glory not because I am free from sins, but because my sins are forgiven me. I will not glory because I have done good nor because someone has done good to me, but because Christ is my advocate with the Father and because the blood of Christ has been shed for me.”

Christ was of course PERFECTLY humble.  He was able to hold Himself in the face of unspeakable injustice, when He is PERFECT justice.  And the miracle is NOT that He could do this twenty centuries ago, the miracle is that He has done this INFINTIELY since the beginning of time and will continue to do so until the end of time.  For we were not merely unjust to God twenty centuries ago when we judged Him and put Him to death, we were unjust when we committed Original Sin (and every sin that came afterwards).  And we are unjust today – I am unjust today – when I seek to put myself up when God really wants me to allow HIS glory to come through…

In “Imitation of Christ”, Saint Thomas a Kempis wrote, at pages 32-33, “Many try to fly away from temptations only to fall more deeply into them; for you cannot win a battle by mere flight. It is only by patience and humility that you will be strengthened against the enemy. Those who shun them outwardly and do not pull them out by the roots will make no progress; for temptations will soon return to harass them and they will be in a worse state. It is only gradually—with patience and endurance and with God's grace—that you will overcome temptations sooner than by your own efforts and anxieties . . . Gold is tried by fire and the upright person by temptation. Often we do not know what we can do until temptation shows us what we are . . . This is how temptation is: first we have a thought, followed by strong imaginings, then the pleasure and evil emotions, and finally consent. This is how the enemy gains full admittance, because he was not resisted at the outset. The slower we are to resist, the weaker we daily become and the stronger the enemy is against us.”

And I can understand some of the truth in that – because my own strength is NOTHING to counter sin.  I need to rely on the strength of my Heavenly Father…

And today I pray the prayer of Saint Paul the Apostle, who wrote, “May the God of peace Himself make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and He will also accomplish it.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).

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