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Dear Brothers and Sisters,
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The opening lines of his week’s Gospel really strike a chord with me. Jesus addresses those who feel they are convinced of their own righteousness and despise everyone else. Jesus addresses the parable to us when we feel superior to others. What could make us feel superior to others?
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Even despite our best efforts to live the spiritual life, can possibly lead us into the vice of pride. Perhaps we even have all of our whole spiritual checklists in order. We go to Mass, we pray the rosary, we spend time in prayer, we read, we go to confession regularly and we help the poor. All of these things are so good and necessary. If we are doing these things, great, keep it up and pray for me, I need it, but don’t we all!
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But if we do these things, does this make us better than anyone else? No. We are all made in the image of God with a certain dignity, and we all have the potential to do great things and also horrible things. So, Jesus addresses this week’s Gospel to us. Do we feel prideful? Do we feel better than anyone else? Do we laugh at someone who does not “know” the correct Catholic answer? Do we sneer at a parent who does not genuflect before the tabernacle? Do we respond kindly to those around us, or do we need to work on this?
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This is an important Gospel for us to reflect on, to help us live our Catholic life well, we need to constantly ask our Blessed Mother for help, and ask for the virtue of humility. When we pray for humility, we may get humiliated, but we come away with a deeper and more charitable attitude toward our neighbor, while keep striving to live in His grace. When we see a little wrong in the world, as opposed to condemning it, we can do our best to help it. We help while, asking the Lord to have mercy on me, a sinner.
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