IN THE EYES OF GOD:
Scripture: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” – Galatians 3:28
Catechism of the Catholic Church: “In virtue of their rebirth in Christ there exists among all the Christian faithful a true equality with regard to dignity and the activity whereby all cooperate in the building up of the Body of Christ in accord with each one’s own condition and function.” – CCC #872
Brothers and sisters, from the readings this weekend, we are reminded that humility before the Lord is its own righteousness. We are ALL equal in the eyes of God; we are all equal in dignity, in importance, and His love. He is the just Judge because He loves us without conditions. Can we honestly say that we do the same? Do we love, do we judge without conditions?
Our society, our culture has taught us to believe that we are special; that we are more special and more deserving than others. And this idea is passed down from one generation to the next: our children are more special; our grandchildren are more special than others. People seem to have forgotten that idea of us being more special than others actually has two parts.
When my generation was growing up, we were taught that we are special, BUT we are no more special than anyone else, and no one is more special than we are. The United States has a document that says we are all created equal. Our country has gone to war to protect our equality and the equality of others. So, when did things change, and what was the cause of this change?
Brothers and sisters, when did we start thinking that we had the right to judge others? When did we start thinking that if someone disagrees with us, they are wrong? When did we start thinking that when someone we perceive as being wrong, we then had the right to silence them in which ever way we wanted? When did we start thinking that we were God?
The cause of this change of mindset seems to coincide with when it happened: it was the day when we allowed pride to creep into our lives. When we allow pride to dictate our lives, we believe that we are more special than others, thereby thinking that we have the right to judge others according to the conditions we place on them (whether they are aware of it or not).
But we must be careful with pride brothers and sisters, for pride is the foundation of blasphemy; the only sin not forgiven. The way to conquer pride and the evil one who promotes it, is by humility. When we are humble of heart, we will begin to see as God sees. We will begin to understand and accept that, “There is neither Jew or Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for we are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Therefore, brothers and sisters, let us not behave like the pharisee in the Gospel reading who prayed, “O God, I thank You that I am not like the rest of humanity…” Instead, let us remember the words of St. John Climacus: “Humility is the only virtue that no devil can imitate. If pride made demons out of angels, there is no doubt, that humility could make angels out of demons.”
“You must ask God to give you power to fight against the sin of pride
Which is your greatest enemy – the root of all this is evil,
And the failure of all that is good. For God resists the proud.”
-St. Vincent de Paul