By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
As millions of young people from around the world converge on Madrid this week for what is expected to be the largest World Youth Day (WYD) ever, Pope Benedict XVI is asking the faithful to keep this event in prayer.
“You’re not humbled when you humble yourself, but when you are humbled by others and you bear it for Christ.”
St. Josemaria Escriva
For Reflection:
Is God currently offering me an opportunity to grow in humility through others? What does St. Josemaria Escriva recommend so that I might mine the grace being offered me?
“The day you see yourself as you are, you will think it natural to be despised by others.”
St. Josemaria Escriva
For Reflection:
To what extent do I see myself as I am – not embellishing my weaknesses nor excusing them either. How would both of these extremes be a false humility?
“You ought to use great caution, even in doing good things. For it may be that, in carrying out some good works, you are seeking only the favor and good graces of men: or the desire of praise may overtake you, and what is done for outward effect, fail of its inward reward.”
Pope St. Gregory the Great
For Reflection:
What are two counterfeits of humility mentioned by Pope St. Gregory the Great? To what extent have I fallen victim to them? What one strategy can I employ in the future?
“When tempted to despair, I have only one resource: to throw myself at the foot of the tabernacle like a little dog at the foot of his master.”
St. John Vianney
For Reflection:
How does St. John Vianney recommend we find the grace we need to make it through a trial with right intention, fervency, courage, and trust in God? How much time a week do you spend before the Blessed Sacrament?
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
Mississippi voters were in an uproar on Wednesday when Planned Parenthood Seattle Chaplain Vincent Lachina was exposed during a Mississippi Secretary of State’s Personhood Amendment hearing.
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
Bishop Nicholas D’Marzio of the Diocese of Brooklyn is promising to assist parents who wish to assert their parental rights against a new mandate by the City of New York that all students must have two semesters of sex education.
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
A new study by the Centers for Disease Control analyzed chronic skin infections that erupt after tattooing and found that they can be caused by the use of tap water during rinsing and diluting of inks, raising concerns about the health risks involved in this largely unregulated procedure.
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
The American surrogacy industry is reeling after news broke that a high-profile California attorney who specialized in “non-traditional, third-party family building” was operating an elaborate baby-selling ring.
Humility
“Humility is one of the most difficult virtues both to attain and to ascertain. It lies close upon the heart itself, and its tests are exceedingly delicate and subtle. Its counterfeits abound.”
Venerable John Henry Newman
For Reflection:
Yesterday’s Grace Line gave one counterfeit of the virtue of humility. What might be some other counterfeits?
(See tomorrow’s Grace Line for more counterfeits of humility.)
