If we are not awake and aware of our thoughts, we will neither be aware
of our words and actions.
The mind is the sum of information, education and belief.
If we have, for example, the recurrent thought:
"it is not possible, it cannot be done" or
"I do not believe that an all powerful God exist, and even if he does he can
not help me", we are already deciding the outcome.
Then there is the superiority complex, otherwise known
as pride, which is an elevation of ourselves. This is often
ingrained into us, we are trained to be proud, since early childhood, but
pride must not to be confused with self confidence, it is not the same.
This arrogance; looking down on others, knowing better than others, is
almost always wrapped in a packaging of correct polite niceness, or even
"kindness".
There are also those that go to great lengths to appear humble, or to imitate a
behaviour that they believe to be humility.....(most people see through that)
The Catholic Church, the only Church that holds the entire truth about God,
says that pride is the worst sin, she emphasizes the virtue of humility,
of which The Virgin Mary; The Mother of God, is the perfect model.
However the Church is full of proud people, who do not know, or want to admit,
that they are committing this sin.
However humble Catholics exists, only they are not too noticeable, for the very
reason that they are humble and do not seek to be seen.
As God's graces comes from God, we cannot take any personal pride from them.
They are freely given, without merit.
However; if someone goes around proclaiming and announcing to
everyone that they have received graces, they have, if they received them in
the first place, already lost them, by making them their own.
They are usually the same people who, because of this, feels so
confident that they do not hesitate to tell priests that they are wrong, and might
even tell them what to do.
I am not exaggerating, these people exist in the Church,
they might appear at first sight normal and reasonable, but they are not, they
are psychological imbalanced and sometimes mentally ill.
What others say, will be internally understood and interpreted by them from
the height of their looking down on them.
The study of theology and philosophy is helpful to laypeople, but as it is the
academic background from which the priests come, the priest being a good
pedagogue is more important for transmitting the correct understanding and
interpretations to the rest of us.
What can sometimes be problematic is that some study groups, for example
the Thomas Aquinas groups, although open to everyone, are often in reality,
groups of the elite, snobs, people from privileged backgrounds.
Developing the intellect is great, noble and necessary, but if the same problem
of pride remains, did all that learning achieve anything at all, other than to
reinforce the pride of the ego?
The Faith is personal in the sense that it is to be applied in our personal life,
not only in external acts, but in the depth of our heart, there where God lives,
we must be united to Him.
Everything we hear and see is understood through our subjective mind, which
is made up of our individual education, formation, belief, emotional history,
and the infestation of sin.
The density of all this is comparable to concrete, difficult to break through.
It can be done though, but it is hard work, it takes a lot of dedication,
perseverance and determination.
We interpret; judge everything from this place, we determine that "you are so
and so", because that is how I see you. Most often it is a projection of ourselves,
and it is casting judgement on others, which Catholics are not supposed to do,
because the truth must always stand on it's own, the truth is objective, it is the
bare facts.
When this happens, it is best to remove ourselves from the person/situation.
Believing that : "I got a good catholic education, so I am ok "does not suffice,
that is even a protestant attitude, protestants who believe that Faith alone suffices,
but Catholics knows that it also takes work, yes, work of charity and helping
others, but principally it is personal internal work, in order to progress in holiness.
To be asked "where is that in "Summa Theologica" is equivalent to "where is
that in the Bible" as the protestants are so fond of asking us (they who have a
reduced Bible...)
To be humble at heart, which we must be, we have to uproot pride from our hearts,
pride of all sorts, we need to be constantly on guard, because this evil spirit comes
from the devil. The devil is outside us, in the world, but more importantly he is
inside each and every one of us.
But so is God, so the battle between good and evil, between God and the devil, is
first and foremost an internal battle and a daily struggle.
It is difficult, but there is no other way.
"You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell
is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way."
Matthew 7:13
The humble at heart, with finely tuned capacity to capture the sublime and subtle,
and with elevated minds, that which is imperceptible to the coarse minds
and souls of the many who are either caught up in material things or trapped inside
prisons of sin.
The humble does not make any presumptions, not about people, nor about God.
Anger is another fundamental sin, a sin that recurs frequently with many people,
it often functions like a frame of reference, when fear to the ego is experienced or
perceived. Fear and anger are closely associated.
Both of which are barriers to living life in God.
"How then can man be in the right before God?
How can he who is born of woman be pure?
Behold, even the moon is not bright,
and the stars are not pure in his eyes;how mu
ch less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm!”
Job 25: 4-6
But also about Man:
"O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who
hast set thy glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength
because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the
avenger.
When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the
stars, which thou hast ordained;
What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou
visitest him?
For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned
him with glory and honour.
Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast
put all things under his feet:
All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through
the paths of the seas."
O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!"
Psalm 8: 1-9
The Magnificat
