Saint John Paul II once said, "The Catholic Church, expert teacher of humanity and holiness, shows us ancient and ever new instruments for the daily combat against evil suggestions: prayer, the sacraments, penance, careful attention to the Word of God, vigilance and fasting. "
Not that I would ever suggest anything lacking in the words of our
holy father, but I might add one thing to the list. Learning to love
humble pie.
Humble pie. All of us have had it. Some of us have
probably had more of it than others. Regardless, all of us know the
bitter taste of humble pie that often doesn't go down so well.
When a healthy slice of humble pie is served to me, I try to think of
this passage from the first letter of Peter. I remind of how important
the role of humility is in my cooperation with the mighty hand of God and
ultimately combating the influences of Satan in my life. I remember that
my fight is not against flesh and blood, or the seemingly material sources of
my frustration.
Often, humble pie comes with an array of emotions…emotions of
crippling fear, anger, and resentment…emotions that can be overpowering and at
the very least distracting…especially the more I resist it. Satan knows
well the weaknesses of human nature. If given the opportunity he will use
those distractions to erode our faith, little by little, without us even
noticing.
Satan is the most cunning of creatures. He is patient and
stealthy. If pride is our Achilles heel, Satan is hiding in the shadows
of our ego with the arrow of Paris waiting for the opportunity to take us
down. Satan is steadfast in his goal to break our faith, kill our hope,
and break our communion with Jesus.
Ultimately, God is our strength and our protector, but it is only
through humility that we can be exulted by God. We must always be mindful
of our pride, and we should never be lax about it or distracted by it.
When we are served humble pie, we must do our best to accept it with gratitude
while we surrender the moment to the divine providence of our heavenly
Father. Let almighty God take care of the consequences. If we don't
Satan is usually lurking around in the darkness, waiting to take advantage of
our pride and attack us with further temptation.
As we prayed in morning prayer this morning, we must not allow pride
to affect our ability to listen to the voice of the Lord. We must not
allow pride to sow seeds of stubbornness as we traverse this spiritual
wilderness. We must not speak boastfully or let arrogance issue from our
mouths. For God is all knowing. It is the Lord who humbles, but He
also exalts. It seems it is ultimately the Lord that serves up the humble
pie in our lives. But, He does so for our protection from the evil
one. He does so to quell the pride that Satan is looking to take
advantage of.
As I was recently reminded, we must always be mindful of who we are in
the Lord. Where is our pride preventing us from truly being present to
the movements of the Holy Spirit in our lives? Where is our pride
preventing us from fully loving those God has sent into our lives? Where
is pride going to be an impediment to answering the call of the Lord through His Church?
Hmmmmm…humble pie. It can smell like sulfur, taste like bile,
and cause our stomach to feel like it is attempting to digest nails. How
we respond to the humble pie we are served in our lives is probably a good
indication of where we are in our walk with the Lord and what kind of deacon we
are going to be. Be mindful. Be vigilant. Be sober.
