I’m re-posting something I wrote in June of 2018. Once again, because I had very few followers back then so most people have never read this, I am sharing today. It’s perfect for this Sunday as our Gospel reading is from Luke, Chapter 14, verses 7-14. It’s Jesus advising his dinner companions not to sit in places of honor as one more “distinguished” than you may arrive and the host will ask you to move to the lowest place. In a word, it’s all about humility. The priest at Mass this morning said today could be labeled, “Humility Sunday.” The first reading, always an Old Testament excerpt, explicitly tells us to “conduct (our) affairs with humility” and goes on to give examples of ways we can be humble in our daily life. It’s from the Book of Sirach, Chapter 3, starting at verse 17.
There’s a Litany of Humility that I shared over a year ago and I share again in the form of a song by one of my favorite contemporary Christian singers, Matt Maher. Please give a listen. The Litany is here (I didn’t include it last time; asked the reader to search for it. I don’t know why I didn’t just cut and paste it into my entry!) See below the blog link for the Litany of Humility.
https://drowning-in-lemonade.com/2018/06/21/deliver-me-every-little-prison/
O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus. (repeat after each line)
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,
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,
That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. (repeat after each line)
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 may become as holy as I should,
Amen.
Drowning in Lemonade 