True Humility!

Philippians 2:3

Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves.

One community of nuns had a five-dollar bill on their fireplace mantle.  It was there for the first sister who could honestly say she’d prayed the Rosary without getting distracted by something or other.  It had been there for years.  Some things are things you aim at; some are things you achieve.  For most of us, “doing nothing from selfishness” is an aim in this life, rather than an achievement.  But it is a thing we can do better and better (if not perfectly) by the help of the Holy Spirit.  The place to start is not by trying to be a worm (“I’m just a worthless person, don’t mind me….”), but by simply being what you are: a human being.  For the essence of humility is not taking a dim opinion of yourself, it is taking a high opinion of everybody else and of God above all and not bothering about your exact location in the Temple of Fame.  Someday, if you follow that course, you will find the place where you are so full of interest in God and others that you will be free forever of all the sweat and worry about yourself, and what will become of you and what people think and all the rest of it.  In that hour, you will be fully humble.

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Mark P. Shea is a popular Catholic writer and speaker. The author of numerous books, his most recent work is The Work of Mercy (Servant) and The Heart of Catholic Prayer (Our Sunday Visitor). Mark contributes numerous articles to many magazines, including his popular column “Connecting the Dots” for the National Catholic Register. Mark is known nationally for his one minute “Words of Encouragement” on Catholic radio. He also maintains the Catholic and Enjoying It blog and regularly blogs for National Catholic Register. He lives in Washington state with his wife, Janet, and their four sons.

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