The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friends in Christ,

Today we are reminded of the power of pride to tear down and destroy any good that we may do and the power of humility to lift us up and overcome any evil we may have done. The proud man was just, but his justice was useless because of his pride. The humble man was a sinner, but his humility lifted him up to God.

St. John Chrysostom compares the two men to two charioteers in a race. The justice of the one should have moved him the most quickly to heaven, but his pride weighed him down. The sins of the other held him back, but his humility carried him forward.

Ideally, we should combine justice with humility. If humility can overcome the weight of our sins and lift us up to heaven, how much higher and faster could we rise if we combined justice with humility? On the other hand, if we combine pride with sin, how quickly will we fall to the greatest depths of Hell?

Pride is much more pervasive than most people think. It has a way of seeping into everything that we do. The criminal is often proud of what he was able to accomplish or hide from the eyes of men. Pious souls tend to become very proud of their piety. We hear it jokingly said that some people are proud of their humility. It is preferable to be humiliated because of our pride.

The disposition of our wills (hearts and minds) is very important, but it is essential in our relationship with God. Before God, we are nothing, and, in our nothingness, we should find great humility. The devil only looked upon himself, not God, and therefore filled himself with pride. If the devils could only clearly look upon God, they would recognize their nothingness. Because they refuse to see their own unworthiness and have filled themselves up with proud and vain thoughts of themselves, God has forced an external humiliation upon them — He has left them to the emptiness of their own darkness and depravity. They long for perfection (God), but their pride has blinded them to the point that they only see the goodness God has placed in them and how far short they are of ever having their desires completely fulfilled. They have doomed themselves to an eternal longing that can never be filled.

The proud set themselves up against God, but they also set themselves against all of humanity. Constantly looking into themselves, they can never perceive any goodness in others. The proud, like Lucifer, imagine that everything exists to serve themselves. Nothing outside of themselves is worthy of them. The little good or the little talent that God had placed in them when He created them often becomes their entire focus. In their imaginations, they build up and enlarge this little good until they imagine this small goodness is godly perfection. Under this self-delusion, they cannot see any good outside of themselves. When forced to recognize good qualities in another, they must do everything they can to discredit and downplay them.

The proud appear to live in an imaginary world almost entirely devoid of any sense of reality or truth. Our imaginations are powerful tools that God has given us, and imaginations have brought tremendous good into the world. However, every powerful tool that can be used for good is also hazardous and can be used for great evil.

Devils are very good at painting pictures or planting ideas in our imaginations. There is often some element of truth in these things the devils suggest, but if we look carefully, there is always a lie. We must be careful of absolutes in this life. Only God is absolutely good. People in this world are neither entirely evil nor are they completely good. It is a lie to imagine that we are better than everyone else or that there is nothing good outside of ourselves.

Pride makes us look into ourselves rather than outside of ourselves. It then leads our imaginations to pretend we see absolute light and goodness within us. The reality is that while looking inward, we cannot see God. What is really within us is darkness and emptiness. Humility, on the other hand, looks honestly both within and without. It perceives its own darkness and emptiness inside, as well as the light and goodness of God all around itself. Seeing truth, beauty, and goodness in God and reflected in all that God has made, the humble soul cannot help but look within himself and see how he has darkened and polluted God's work within himself.

May we always pray in truth and humility, knowing our own unworthiness, so that we seek only God's mercy and love. "O God, be merciful to me, a sinner."

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