Humility

As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples. The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” He heard this and said, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” (Matthew 9:9-13)

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. You are the only God, there is no other god. Perfect in every aspect. You do not need air to breathe, food to eat, ground to walk on, clothes to keep You warm, nor a house to live in. You had Your begotten, not made, Son and Holy Spirit, three in one and then You decided to create the entire world, and man in this world. You created the entire world for man.

I am nothing, a grain of the sand compared to an entire desert is bigger than I am in comparison to Your glory, and You created the entire world for me. I know my poverty, I know my insignificance and I know that Your son our Lord Jesus died on the Cross for me, to give me second chance, to snatch me from the jaws of Satan, to free me from his dominion, so I can become Your child again.

O Lord Jesus You said to Matthew two words: “Follow me.” You stayed at the house of Zacchaeus a chief tax collector, a wealthy man. You let a sinful woman bathe Your feet with her tears, wipe them with her hair, kiss and anoint them with ointment and in return You make them new. Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to You. All of them had one thing incoming, this one thing was humility. They were despised in society but like the good thief on the cross, they were ready to admit their sins (“we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes”) and change their lives. Sinners with the hearts like Yours, were drawn to listen to You. They were sick, they needed a doctor and You healed them.

For the proud, self-righteous Pharisees and scribes who, like the sons of Eli, had respect neither for the LORD nor for the priests’ duties towards the people, it was not enough that You pointed out to them their failures time and again, not enough that they witnessed healing’s, miracles, conversions (“Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything anyone I shall repay it four times over.”) done by You, it not enough to tell them their miserable future (“Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you”). With them was Your dispute, they were responsible for a lack of knowledge of Your people. They were the seriously sick ones, poisoned with pride, sick in denial. You were the doctor they needed most and they crucified You.

O our Heavenly Father Your son Jesus once said: “If you know me, then you will also know my Father.” I know that You are the opposite of the evil of this world; people are seeking wealth, Jesus was born in a cave. Pharisees hated Him, He love them, tried to help them find the right way, even prayed for them while dying on the Cross. Demons were enslaving people, He was setting them free. Lucifer rebel because of his pride, Jesus and Mary made redemption possible through their humility.

O Almighty God You allowed us to call You our Father. You are just and merciful, full of love and glory.

Am I wrong in saying that You created this whole world and man in it, from those beautiful attributes that emerged from humility?

Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make our hearts like to Thine.

O my God, I firmly believe that you are one God in three divine Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I believe that your divine Son became man and died for our sins and that he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths which the Holy Catholic Church teaches because you have revealed them who are eternal truth and wisdom, who can neither deceive nor be deceived. In this faith I intend to live and die. Amen.

(Act of faith)

Many people ask themselves and others the questions:” If God is all loving and merciful, all mighty and powerful, why is there so much suffering in the world? Where was God when in 1793-94 the regime of Maximillian Robespierre chopped off 40 000 heads with a device called the guillotine during French revolution? Where was He when 4 million people including children were starved to death by Joseph Stalin in Ukraine in 1932-34? Where was God during the Holocaust, where millions of Jews, Poles, Russians and others were killed by Hitler’s regime? Why didn’t God stop it?”

O my Heavenly Father, I know that You are in charge and everything occurs for a reason. I know that none of us is able to comprehend You and Your ways. There is no computer capable of predicting Your actions. I recognize that the objective behind all of it is to bring us, Your children, home, to Heaven. The salvation of our souls is the goal, and based on this recognition I am building my trust in You.

We people identify experiences which are struggle and pain free, enjoyable, as good and those which we would rather escape as bad. Suffering is one of those bad experiences everybody would like to escape. Even Your son, our Lord Jesus Christ while praying on the Mount of Olives said, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me”                      (Matthew 26; 39).

Suffering cannot be bad if the suffering of Your son brought salvation to so many. So much pain and suffering was endured by saints and martyrs in pursuit of You and eternal happiness.

St. John Vianney revealed the secret to good suffering in the words: “To suffer lovingly is to suffer no longer. To flee from the cross is to be crushed beneath its weight. We should pray for a love of the cross, then it will become sweet.”

Maryam Rostampour and Marziyeh Amirizadeh shared with us the sweetness of suffering in the book, Captive in Iran. Two Christian women raised in Muslim homes in Iran, arrested in 2009 and held for 259 days in Evin prison, charged with apostasy, antigovernment activity and blasphemy for promoting Christianity, which is punishable by death. They experienced brutal and humiliating treatment, poisoning, and illness, solitary confinement and interrogations up to nine hours at the time, on a weekly basis. They used their imprisonment as an opportunity to bear witness to other inmates. Prison was “like a church to us” says Marziyeh. Almost all the time they felt Your presence, O our Heavenly Father. When they were offered freedom in exchange for renouncing Christianity, Marziyeh replied,” I would rather spend the rest of my life in prison if that’s what it takes to stay close to Him. I would rather be killed than kill the spirit of Christ within me”.

O Lord You are using suffering to help us, as a motivation to correct our ways, to recognize the difference between good and bad, to perform acts of love and charity. Through our own suffering You guide us to salvation, if only we will accept it. We could offer our pains with love to You. O all loving and all caring Father how gentle You are in chastising us, and how eager to help and forgive our sins.

You gave us Catholic Church build on sacrifice of Your only son our Lord Jesus Christ and His mother Queen of Heaven and Earth, the Blessed Virgin Mary, with apostles and saints. A Church like no other, with a chest full of treasures coming from Your Holy Heart. The Bible, Holy Sacraments, indulgences, liturgical year with holidays and feasts, revelations and guidance passed to us through the chosen souls.

You even let us distribute Your mercy to others, through praying, offering our suffering and sacrifice for them, and for souls in purgatory we may also offer partial and plenary indulgences. O God You are so good. I love You my Father. Please help me to love You more and serve You better.

Amen.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat [or drink], or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?”
/Matthew, 6:25/

A long time ago before the Berlin wall collapsed, people, to show the absurdity of the communist system, would ask, “How many workers does it take to plant a tree?” The answer was “five, one to dig a hole, one to put the tree in, a “highly educated” supervisor to say ‘roots down, branches up,’ a fourth to fill the hole, and the fifth to pour some water, to keep the tree alive.” There is a problem in this joke, according to Darwin’s theory of evolution, we don’t need a highly educated supervisor. It doesn’t matter whether the roots are down or up, the tree will adapt!

How is it that the all-knowing, all-powerful government couldn’t bend or change the power of Mother Nature? There is a bigger question, is it really Mother Nature?

You, my God, have made everything; You decided that roots will go into the dirt to collect water, while the branches reach up into the air. You made it possible that the water, which normally travels downwards instead travels up the tree to the highest leaves. God, You magnificent designer, who made trees and other plants to suck the carbon dioxide from the air, then use it to build branches and leaves, and spit out oxygen that we need to live. (How evil it is to consider carbon dioxide as a pollutant)

At the end of my workday, when I am washing my hands, I can see callouses. Some may say they are from work, I say they are from You, heavenly Father. You designed them, made them to protect my hands while I work. Oh God, how much You must love me, that You protect even my hands. How much You must love me, that You sacrificed Your beloved son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh merciful God, fill my heart with love and passion that I may serve You with my whole heart and soul, because “Thou art all good and worthy of all love.” Amen.

 

Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” /Luke 18: 1-8/

Today I saw an ant wandering on the bathroom floor, spring is coming. What a small creature God has created, so small that if I stepped on it I wouldn’t even notice. How little we must be in comparison with our creator, maker of all the planets, stars and galaxies. We are so small that if we were to give every living man and woman on earth 1/3 of an acre of land it would only cover the state of Texas. How minuscule we are, and yet how much our Heavenly Father cares for us. Lord, so often have You stopped the rain so I could finish my outdoor work. When we had a guest coming after church You gave us beautiful weather, allowing us to sit outside and enjoy the company; or when we asked for nice weather for last year’s garden party at our church You gave us a beautiful day, then in the end when we finished cleaning you washed everything with rain.

Only You, Almighty God, know how many times You saved me from trouble. I still remember seeing the fear in the eyes of other drivers when I lost control going 60 mph in the middle of a snow storm. Miraculously, nothing happened, and I was able to get back on the freeway and continue my trip. You picked the perfect place to warn me about slippery conditions, and when I lost control on a curve and my heart was crying out “no, no, please no” suddenly the wheels regained grip and I safely reached my destination. Many times and in many situations, the words of psalm 91:11-12: “For he commands his angels with regard to you, to guard you wherever you go. With their hands they shall support you, lest you strike your foot against a stone,” came to my mind. How much love You have towards me and I am less than an meager ant. O my God you listen to us, to our hearts all the time ready to come and help, to take care of us. Now I start to understand how offensive a cold, mindless, heartless prayer must be to You, why the second commandment was given to us.

“O my God, I love you above all things, with my whole heart and soul, because you are all good and worthy of all my love. I love my neighbor as myself for the love of you. I forgive all who have injured me and I ask pardon of all whom I have injured.” Amen.