Humility and respect
The story is told about a patient who was grimacing in pain and said: “Doctor, I have so much pain!” The doctor replied: “OK, I’ll give you morphine.” And the patient said: “No, Doctor, please give me less pain, not more pain!”
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In today’s Gospel (Matthew 11:25-30) Jesus tells us, “Come to me all you labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Is there anything bothering you right now? Go back to the Lord, and He will give you light, and lightness of heart.
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For those who think that they are “wise and learned” in this world, please listen to the Lord tell us again today that the key to true peace is humility. As long as you think you are some god, as long as you play the control and the power game, you are in the losing end. Sooner or later, you will fail, and you will realize that you are frail. Stop playing games with God. Stop fooling yourself. Stop fleeing. Start going home. Take the road of humility, and you will not lose your way.
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Papa and Mama always told me that it’s better to be humble than to be proud, to be honest than to be defiant, to be forgiving than to be tough. I used to look back and think that perhaps they thought that way because they did not have much in this life. But now, the more I think about it the more it seems to me that they thought that way precisely because they had much—they had God, they had values, and they had the wisdom of the “little ones.”
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In humility, we must acknowledge that we are all stewards and stewardesses in this world. We came to this world with nothing, and we are going to leave this world with nothing. Humility makes us realize that all worldly desires and achievements are empty and vain without God’s approval and consent. Obey in humility and you’ll have serenity. Disobey and be haughty, and you’ll be unhappy.
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What is hidden from the learned and the wise and is revealed to the childlike? Simple faith and trust in the divine. Once a person forgets who he or she is and forgets who God is, then trouble begins. Once a person forgets his or her mortality, his or her “givenness,” his or her dispensability, and his or her dependence on and need for God, then we have a situation where a person thinks he or she can go on and do everything without God. A simple case of mistaken identity, wherein an instrument thinks that he or she is the source, wherein a creature thinks that he or she is the creator.
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I remember a very touching sick call I had some years ago when I asked the family to be humble and to forgive one another. Amid hugs and tears, the walls that separated them all these years just melted away in that one moment of peace and reconciliation. Praise God who made it all possible. Let us not wait for the “last two minutes” before we break the walls that divide us and really reach out in humility and love.
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Have you ever experienced stepping into a crowded elevator full of strangers staring at you because you just triggered the overload sensor? It is an embarrassing experience, but all you have to do is step out. In life, too, we must not cause extra burdens on other people. Do you make life difficult for other people? Are you the one who causes hurts, problems, and stress to other people, especially your loved ones? Ikaw ba ang pampabigat sa buhay nila? Please have the courtesy and the humility of stepping out, so that they can go on with their lives. Do not unnecessarily burden them. They, too, have their share of life’s burdens.
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Learn from the animals. The cows bend their knees before they lie down to sleep. The ants always take time to stop, greet, and give way whenever they meet. Why can’t we be humble before God, and why can’t we be kind and respectful to one another?
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Speaking of respect, it pains me to see artificial intelligence-generated advertisements in social media using me to endorse medicines, food supplements, and even rosaries. Fake news! I don’t endorse anything or anyone, except Christ.
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A moment with the Lord:
Lord, help us to be humbled and respectful to You and to one another. Amen.
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momentswithfrjerry@gmail.com
