“Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.” Matthew 11:29
Humility tends to have a bad reputation. Sometimes, when one is asked to be humble, one immediately thinks that he or she is being asked to forsake their ways, to let someone else win, to let others take advantage of them, or to demean oneself or see oneself as inferior or less than others. Yet, that’s not humility. Instead, humility is a virtue – a gift – that makes us better listeners, makes us more compassionate and understanding, makes us more modest about our approach, makes us recognize that we’re not always right, makes us grow into better people, and makes us appreciate that we surrender to a greater power that governs the universe and all of our existence – God. Humility allows to joyfully accept that we’re completely dependent on God, and this is what Jesus taught and exemplified through his life, submitting to the Father’s will and selflessly giving of self to others. In humility, we acknowledge our sinfulness, our inability to save ourselves, and our need for God’s mercy and guidance. It may difficult at times, but then again, we have Jesus, who is our Savior, to not only learn from him but as He would go on to say attach our yoke to his, ready to walk this path of humility with us, not abandoning us but giving us in spirit what we need in our lives to be more at peace with God, with one another, and with ourselves.
Finally, this weekend our nation celebrates its 250th anniversary. This weekend, we remember the moment and the document where our nation declared its Independence, and to commemorate this event, the Bishops of the United States consecrated our nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus this past month. In consecrating the gift of our nation, we do more than just ask for the Lord’s blessing. We pray to the Sacred Heart seeking reparation for the wrongs that we’ve committed as a nation while giving thanks to the Lord for the good that we accomplished with his guidance. We also pray that through his Sacred Heart, the Lord may continue to give us, as a nation, the grace to build his kingdom on earth – to live in accordance with his will and to be a beacon of hope, charity, and faith to all. Have a safe and blessed 4th of July.
Fr Robert