25th August 2018 Saturday 20th Week of Ordinary Time - St. Louis of France and St. Joseph Calasanz

Reflection

Ezekiel 43:1-7, Matthew 23:1-12

“It is about You, Jesus!”

Today, Jesus has the message for us who desire to follow Him faithfully - “It is not about me!” This has to be our daily mantra, “It is not about me!” This has to be our daily exercise of dying to our pride and making humility our daily habit.

We waste our time and energy when we focus solely on ourselves and seek to be somebody. In our pursuit for our own greatness and self-fulfilment, we find ourselves living life running around in circles and without horizon.

Jesus lived His life by focussing on loving and serving others. In helping, loving and serving others, Jesus exalted God, and not Himself. Today, let us desire to have the heart of Jesus!

Questions for reflection:

1) Do I struggle to embrace humility and let go of my pride?

2) How can I exalt God in all that I do and say today?

Practice What You Preach: The world needs witnesses more than it needs teachers. It’s easy to remind others how things should be done; it is much harder to give witness of authentic Christian life. One thing is content, and the other is a personal example. When someone tells us the truth, we should accept it – even if that person doesn’t live the truth he preaches. Our following the truth should not depend on whether or not others live it. And, if we find ourselves in a position in which we have the responsibility of preaching or teaching catechism, we should sincerely try to live up to the doctrine that we preach, which is not ours but God’s.