God is merciful with us, but do we allow ourself to accept this mercy into our life?
From our Gospel: “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
In order for us to be open to receiving the loving mercy of God we need to be humbled. Thus we must lower ourself and let go of our pride and realize our dependence upon God. Our Blessed Mother gave us this example at the Annunciation when she humbled herself in the presence of God and cried out: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.”
We often live our life as if we are dependent upon nothing. We enjoy being self sufficient, but at the heart of our Gospel message we are being instructed that we are in need of God. That without God we can accomplish nothing. Despite the self sufficiency that we enjoy today we do not know if this will be the case for us at some point down the road.
The scribes and Pharisees whom we encounter in our Gospel forgot this fact. The Law to which they so strictly adhered to should of brought them into an encounter with God and His mercy. Rather, through their pride this was not so. The scribes and Pharisees needed to humble themselves in God’s presence and thus realize their true dependence upon Him and His mercy.
The response to our Responsorial Psalm gets to the heart of this issue: “In you, Lord, I have found my peace.” We thus will not find our peace until we discover that it is found within God alone. Every longing to which we have will and is fulfilled through our encounter with God.
Let us thus reflect within our heart of the many ways in which we fail to humble ourself in God’s presence and thus fail to find our peace within Him. Some say that they no longer attend Church because what they discover here a bunch of hypocrites who despite what they say and profess don’t properly reflect those words and actions which are found within the Gospel.
Truly we must realize that the Church is a refuge for the sinful. That none of us are perfect and without sin. If we are to make this profession with our lips then we need to be truthful with ourself and thus humble ourself in the presence of God. Despite the Church being a refuge for sinners we must also understand that we are being called to humble ourself thus prevailing ourself to God’s mercy and thus turning away from sin and back towards God. This is a process to which we must commit ourself throughout the course of whole life on this earth.
Thus be not prideful, but humble yourself in the Sacrament of Confession. Thus be not prideful, but realize your need to be humbled in the presence of God as we attend Mass. Thus be not prideful, but truly turn yourself towards the mercy of the Father.
