Be humble amid great honors

 WE have to be ready to react properly when some praises

and honors come our way. We should remain humble, knowing that all

those praises and honors belong to God. “Deo omnis gloria!”

  

            This is the lesson Christ wants to impart when he talked

about the unprofitable servant. (cfr Lk 17,7-10) “Which of you,” he

said, “having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when

he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’?”

Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and

gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward

you will eat and drink’?

  

            “Does he thank that servant because he did the things that

were commanded him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done

all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable

servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’”

  

            It is a lesson so relevant these days when a lot of the

people, especially the so-called millennials, feel entitled to certain

privileges and perks because of the things they have done or

accomplished.

  

            It’s true that the young ones of today get to know more

things—at least, more technical things—than those of the previous

generations. This reminds me of the lyrics of the song, What a

wonderful world!, that goes: “I hear babies cry / I watch them grow /

they’ll learn much more / than I’ll ever know / and I think to myself

/  What a wonderful world.”

   

            But this does not mean that they are entitled to more

privileges than what rightfully belongs to them or what God and others

(their parents, superiors, etc.) would give them.

  

            All of us should be humble enough to repeat those words,

“We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do,”

to remind ourselves that we actually are not doing anything special or

anything more than what is our duty to fulfill.

  

            And when we happen to receive praises and honors from

others because of our good works, let’s keep our feet firmly stuck to

the ground, not allowing ourselves to be intoxicated. We should not

allow these praises and honors to go to our head and cast some evil

spell over us.

  

            Instead, we have to thank God profusely. All praises and

honors belong to him. What we should realize also is that those

praises and honors given to us are actually a sign that we have to

give ourselves more to God and to others. Our sense of duty and

responsibility should become sharper.

   

            Those praises and honors that we receive are actually some

kind of a test to see if we would still remain with God or we would

now choose ourselves as our own god. We have to know how to pass that

test, and so we need to really grow and deepen our humility.

   

            We should never feel sad because we have chosen to deny

ourselves to grow in humility amid the praises and honors. That

self-denial is actually a big opening for the grace of God to come to

us. That realization should make us very happy with a joy that would

keep us simple, not proud and complicated.

  

            We have to learn not to get spoiled by whatever praises

and honors would come our way. Instead, let these honors trigger the

urge to deepen our humility, to enrich our gratitude to God and to

others, and to sharpen our sense of duty and responsibility.

  

            What a beautiful world we would contribute to build up if

we remain humble amid great honors!