21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Ave Maria!  The first reading and the Gospel from the Mass for this 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time focus on humility.  The following two verses in particular sum up for me today's message.

"Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find mercy in the sight of God."  ~Sirach 3:18

"The one who exalts himself shall be humbled and the one who humbles himself shall be exalted."  ~Luke 14:11

One way to become humble is to humble ourselves.  Mother Teresa wrote a "humility list" for her sisters, but we don't have to be religious women or men to profit from it.  Putting her suggestions into practice, one by one, sure does help me to be humble.  When I get to the end of the list, I simply and humbly go back to the beginning and start all over again.  As St. Philip Neri used to pray, "Lord, today is the day I begin!"  Deo gratias!

Mother Teresa's Humility List  

1. Speak as little as possible about yourself.
2. Keep busy with your own affairs and not those of others.
3. Avoid curiosity.
4. Do not interfere in the affairs of others.
5. Accept small irritations with good humor.
6. Do not dwell on the faults of others.
7. Accept censures even if unmerited.
8. Give in to the will of others.
9. Accept insults and injuries.
10. Accept contempt, being forgotten and disregarded.
11. Be courteous and delicate even when provoked by someone.
12. Do not seek to be admired and loved.
13. Do not protect yourself behind your own dignity.
14. Give in, in discussions, even when you are right.
15. Choose always the more difficult task.