Aug 31 Sun
How can I become a reliable instrument of God?
Jesus had been invited to dine in the house of a leading Pharisee. The Pharisees were convinced that nobody else could know the Law or observe it as perfectly as they did. With a simple parable, Jesus warned them of the consequences of their pride.
Jesus reminds us in this way of the need to shun vanity and not aspire to places of honor. Whatever our tasks and talents may be, without humility, we cannot be effective. An extraordinarily gifted person who is proud will ruin his effectiveness and diminish that of others.
Humble people, on the other hand, though they may not be brilliant humanly speaking, know their role and are effective wherever they are placed. They know their limitations and capabilities. They know how to do and disappear. Their good qualities are always a help, never a hindrance. But above all, in God's eyes, “there are no great or small jobs: they are all great if they are done for Love. Things that are seemingly small become great through the prism of our vocation of service."
To become humble, we have to engrave on our hearts what St. Josemaría wrote: Your aim should be this: among your brothers, to be the last. We all tend to overestimate ourselves. If you knew yourself, you would rejoice in being despised, and your heart would weep at honor and praise. A Father of the Church said: The first degree of humility is to consider your brethren better than you and ahead of you in everything. With that attitude, our talents will never go to waste. And in the end, our Lord himself will say to us: Friend, go up higher.
Truly humble people are happy to be little esteemed, since they see their lowly opinion of themselves confirmed by others. They do not need much attention, they do not like to show off, they do not lay claim to "rights". They fulfill their duty and play the part that corresponds to them, without attracting attention to themselves. We must be a reliable instrument, not requiring special care to function: an instrument that is always useful, come rain or shine, when things are easy or when things are hard. And we will be reliable if we don't think about ourselves.
Our efforts are divinely effective when we work and pass unnoticed like a little donkey that pulls its cart faithfully and perseveringly, ever docile to its master's instructions: guided by God, subject to our Lord's gentle yoke, which makes our burden light and the way sure. Then the most ordinary things are filled with unsuspected color and meaning and value: “O blessed perseverance of the donkey that turns the water-wheel! -Always the same pace. Always the same circles. -One day after another: all of them the same.
“Without that, there would be no ripening in the fruit, no blossoming in the orchard, nor the scent of flowers in the garden."
And, to be humble, we have to look out for opportunities to serve others.