Divine Mercy is generous.
Hopeful.
Powerful. Compassionate.
Glorious.
I am.
A pilgrim of mercy.
The young seminarian was so excited. His new spiritual director was a living saint. Everyone spoke about him with hushed reverence. Some described him as a great saint. Others told stories of how he had helped them discern difficult decisions. And there were some that whispered that he had the gift of reading souls. Arriving in the old priest's study for his first spiritual direction session, the young man was giddy with excitement. Walking into the room, he found the old man sitting in his reading chair with his eyes closed. Sitting down, the seminarian wondered if his spiritual director was asleep. Five minutes passed, and nothing happened. 10 minutes passed. 15 minutes. The young man decided that the old priest was, in fact, asleep and stood up to leave. But in that moment, the priest said, "Do you have a Bible with you?" The young man felt foolish. He didn't. "I don't," he replied anxiously. "There is one on the third shelf," the priest said.
Getting up, the seminarian walked over to the bookshelf. There was indeed a Bible on the third shelf, but there were about 15 different Bibles. The whole shelf was, in fact, full of Bibles. "Which one?" he asked the old priest. "You choose," was the reply. The young seminarian chose a Bible and returned to his chair. As he passed the priest, he noticed his eyes were still closed. "Good choice," the priest said. "How does he know without opening his eyes?" the young man wondered to himself. "Open your Bible to 1 John 1:9, and read it aloud for us to reflect upon," the priest instructed his new student. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from our unrighteousness.
The young man and the old man sat in silence again. But a few moments later, the old priest's eyes, still closed, began to speak. When I was seven years old, I stole a candy bar from the corner store. The old priest continued to confess the sins of his life in chronological order for the next 10 minutes. The young seminarian sat there with his mouth wide open in shocked disbelief. He couldn't believe this man was confessing his sins to him. And he couldn't believe some of the sins this supposed living saint had amassed over his life. When the priest had finished confessing his sins to the seminarian, he sat quietly for a few minutes. Now you can decide if you still want me to be your spiritual director. If you do, I will see you at the same time next week. If you don't, I understand." The seminarian stood to return the Bible to the bookshelf before leaving. "That's yours to keep, a gift from me," the old priest said, just as he was about to place it back on the shelf. "I love that Bible," he continued. "My father gave it to me on my first day of high school." "I couldn't," the seminarian began to say, but the priest raised his hand to silence his objection. Eyes still closed, he replied, "Learning to receive graciously is an important lesson in the spiritual life." The young man was speechless. He went straight to the chapel to reflect on this experience. The old priest had seen right through him. He had indeed read his soul. The priest knew the seminarian had placed him high upon a massive pedestal. And in just a few minutes, he had torn that pedestal down into a crumbling heap. "Humility," the seminarian whispered to himself in the empty chapel. "Humility," he whispered again. "Humility," he whispered a third time. He sat in the chapel for over two hours reflecting on that one word, meditating on what it meant to him at the beginning of his journey toward priesthood.
"It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels," Saint Augustine observed. And C.S. Lewis wrote, "As long as you are proud, you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people. And of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you." To walk humbly with God, that's the mandate placed before us in Micah 6:8. "He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? That you live justly, love tenderly, and walk humbly with your God." Our culture advocates incessant self-promotion, the flaunting of our material possessions, and shameless boasting of worldly success. The fruits of these behaviors are pride, vanity, an inflated but empty sense of self, and a distorted view of what matters most. Humility in this environment is massively countercultural. Cultivating humility in this cultural climate requires a conscious effort to shift our focus from self-centeredness to love of God and neighbour. One very practical way to foster a growing humility is to thank God specifically for a litany of things. Entitlement is a telltale sign of pride, and gratitude banishes entitlement. And one very practical litmus test of humility is to observe whether we are more interested in spiritual growth or external validation. God wants to fill us with His mercy. Humility is the door through which God's mercy flows into our souls. Trust, surrender, believe, receive.
There is a multi-generational problem in the church that deserves our urgent attention. It seems the growing consensus among Catholics is that mass is boring and that it isn't relevant to modern life. Nothing could be further from the truth. And this year, we want to change that mistaken perception forever. Dynamic Catholic is developing a world-class program that will teach Catholics young and old about the genius of the mass and show them exactly how it applies to their daily lives. I hope this stirs your soul. I hope you want to be a part of it. So click the button below. Choose your welcome gift. Become a Dynamic Catholic Ambassador today. We had so much fun creating these new welcome gifts for you. I hope you enjoy them. Have a great day. And remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.
Eternal God.
In whom mercy is endless.
And the treasury of compassion, inexhaustible.
Look kindly upon us.
And increase your mercy in us.
That in difficult moments.
We might not despair.
Nor become despondent.
But with great confidence.
Submit ourselves to your holy will.
Which is love and mercy itself.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
See you tomorrow.
Thank you, Ambassadors.
You are changing the world.
Have a great day.
Have a great day.
Have a great day.
Hey, Isabelle. One of the best ways for a pilgrim of mercy to collaborate with God is to create holy moments. So I figured, while we have a couple of minutes here, you could inspire our audience, teach them how to listen to the Holy Spirit and take action. What is today's Holy Moment Challenge?
Today's Holy Moments Challenge is do something good for you that you normally resist.
