Reading 1
1 Pt 5:5b-14
Beloved:
Clothe yourselves with humility
in your dealings with one another, for:
God opposes the proud
but bestows favor on the humble.
So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,
that he may exalt you in due time.
Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.
Be sober and vigilant.
Your opponent the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion
looking for someone to devour.
Resist him, steadfast in faith,
knowing that your brothers and sisters throughout the world
undergo the same sufferings.
The God of all grace
who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus
will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you
after you have suffered a little.
To him be dominion forever. Amen.
I write you this briefly through Silvanus,
whom I consider a faithful brother,
exhorting you and testifying that this is the true grace of God.
Remain firm in it.
The chosen one at Babylon sends you greeting, as does Mark, my son.
Greet one another with a loving kiss.
Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
Reflection
In our PAPA handbook, page 45, we have the seven heavenly virtues and the seven capital sins listed. Number one is - Be humble. Don't be vain. (Humility over pride.)
I am going to venture to say that humility is the most favorite virtue of God. Why would I say this? I say this because this is what God asked of Jesus. Jesus humbled himself as an example for us, first by coming down from heaven and becoming a baby, second by becoming a servant during his time here on earth teaching on humility (for example, Philippians 2:3-9, Luke 14:11, Luke 18:14 just to mention a few), and lastly by humbling himself to fulfill His Father's Will and die on the Cross taking on the punishment for sins that He never committed.
Here is the question that I ask often, should I strive to be humble?
For the Fourth Sunday of Easter, I listened to the homily from Father Mike Schmitz. In his homily he mentions how humility acknowledges the truth. When someone fails at some task, there is a truth to confront about what happened. Humility embraces the truth and then by the grace of God, we are able to act on that truth in a good and humble way. So many people are shocked and surprised when they fail and think that they should have been able to do the task asked of them, whether it is a test for a student or a project for a business. Jesus is not surprised by our failures. Humility embraces the failure and then we can ask Jesus to help us to move on to the next project, hopefully learning a significant life lesson. Yes, I should strive to be humble. I am on a journey to be an image of Christ. Is that not what being a disciple of Christ is?
Here in this reading, Peter helps us to see the importance of humility. He asks us to clothe ourselves in humility. Will you follow through and clothe yourself in humility?
