And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for:
“God opposes the proud
but bestows favor on the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5b NABRE)
What sort of opinion do I have of myself, and who gets the credit? It's a two-part question, and both aspects matter. I have a high opinion of myself, but get very little of the credit! As a child of God and a co-heir with Jesus, my opinion of myself must be that I have worth, that I am valuable. And because it is God himself who created me, Jesus who taught me how to live, and their shared Spirit who dwells in me and guides me, I get very little credit!
As a result, I'm left with a counter-cultural understanding of pride. We're constantly taught to be proud of our accomplishments and to strive for success. I often wonder at the home-run hitter who makes the sign of the cross and points to heaven, how remarkable it is--in their moment of great professional achievement, when success must feel most real, at this time of personal honor before thousands of fans--that he would even remember to be humble, grateful, thankful to God who gave him his strength.
It is something to work toward!
Today, on this Feast of Saint Mark the Evangelist, I will seek to humbly share God's Word.
Saint Mark, who travelled with Saint Paul and wrote the oldest of the four gospels, pray for us.
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