MEDITATION OF THE DAY
Overcoming Pharisaism
O my soul, it is through humility that we shall reach paradise. And what shall we do in paradise? There the practice of all other virtues ceases and only charity and humility remain. We shall see God, and in seeing him we shall know that he is the infinite Good; and this perfect knowledge will bring with it more perfect love, and the more we love God, the better we shall know him, and the better we know him, the more humble we shall be, practicing humility through all eternity like the ancients seen in the Apocalypse by the Apostle Saint John: Who fell on their faces and adored God, saying, “We give Thee thanks, O Lord God almighty, who is, and who was, and who is to come” (Rv 11:16-17).
Let us begin to practice on earth those virtues which we hope to practice for ever and ever through all ages in heaven: Our Lord Jesus Christ humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to death on a cross. For which cause God also has exalted Him, and has given Him a name which is above all names (Phil 2:8-9). Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man, rescue me from the unjust man (Ps 140:2). Who is this wicked and unjust man from whom I pray to be delivered? He is my inner self…and it is the same as if I were to say: “Deliver me, O Lord, from myself, that is, give me grace to amend and reform myself in order that I may no longer be that earthly, worldly, and proud creature which I have been hitherto, dominated by passion, but that I may be renewed, and may conform to the spirit of my humble Lord and Master Jesus Christ.”
Father Cajetan Mary da Bergamo, o.f.m. cap.
Father da Bergamo († 1753) was an Italian Capuchin priest and a spiritual writer. [From Know Thyself: 100 Guilded Meditations on Humility of Heart. © 2018, TAN Books, Charlotte, NC (www.tanbooks.com). Used with permission.]
