Sometimes you can read a section over and over again without incident. Yesterday’s reading was not that way. This passage struck me in a new way. When I read, ”Whoever wants to save his live will lose it”, somehow it was translated to me, “Whoever wants to save face will lose face.” Hmmm…that I can relate to and was convicted. Then this morning I read the following poem in a blog of a friend:
Litany of Humility
Written by Cardinal Merry del Val. He was accustomed to recite this prayer daily after the celebration of Holy Mass.
O Jesus meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
From the desire of being loved,
From the desire of being extolled,
From the desire of being honored,
From the desire of being praised,
From the desire of being preferred to others,
From the desire of being consulted,
From the desire of being approved,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated,
From the fear of being despised,
From the fear of suffering rebukes,
From the fear of being calumniated,
From the fear of being forgotten,
From the fear of being ridiculed,
From the fear of being wronged,
From the fear of being suspected,
Deliver me, Jesus.
That others may be loved more than I,
That others may be esteemed more than I,
That in the opinion of the world, others may increase, and I may decrease,
That others may be chosen and I set aside,
That others may be praised and I unnoticed,
That others may be preferred to me in everything,
That others may become holier than I, provided that I become as holy as I should,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. Amen.
