There are two ways we can express our
arrogance. One is towards God, and the other is towards our brothers and
sisters. This is particularly true for those of us who are overly confident of
ourselves, of our talents, of our planning, so much so, we think that we are
in control of our lives, of the events around us, and of the situations in
the world. No matter how powerful you may be, the truth is that we have no
real control. We are also very subtle in the way we show our arrogance towards God.
And this is particularly true for those of us who rely on our talents, on technology,
on science. There are some people in the world today who think that science is
the answer to every human problem, and that the intelligence of man can solve
everything. And the truth is that God is in charge, not us. We cannot predict
what will happen tomorrow. We can only ascertain, we can only calculate. But
there are many events that happen in this life that are incalculable. For
those of us who are overly confident of ourselves will be shocked. We will
find surprises, unpleasant surprises. So, we should never be too confident.
That is why St James says, "The most you can say is: 'If it is the Lord's will, we
shall still be alive to do this or that.'" A measure of humility is very important
in the way we look at life. But of course, we also have to be very careful.
Overly confidence can sometimes extend to our supposedly faith in God. There
are some people who claim that they have so much faith in God, that God will
always take care of them. And they become irresponsible in their lives. They
don't do any planning. So, while we should have confidence in God, that kind
of confidence that makes us irresponsible in working as hard as we
could, using all the resources that we have in cooperating with God's plan,
would certainly be a big mistake when we don't use them well. So, this kind of
overconfidence in God is not really humility. It is another form of pride, or
perhaps covered by laziness. There is another form of arrogance. And this
arrogance is directed towards our brothers and sisters. Even the apostles
took quite a long time for them to become more conscious of who they were.
Even though they were supposedly disciples, their thinking was really
worldly thinking. And Jesus was truly patient with them. Sometimes I think it
is really a very sad world. Most of us in life, we were nobody. We were
just ordinary, or less than ordinary. But God has chosen us. But now that we have
been chosen, now that we have become successful, now that we are rich,
influential, now that we are capable, we are holding high positions, we look down
at people. We are impatient with them. We think so highly of ourselves. This is
not the sign of a wise man. A wise man is always humble. In fact, so grateful,
so humbled that he has been chosen. Truly, a wise man is one who feels
with people, especially for the ordinary people, never putting himself above
others. In fact, he is one among them. And so, my dear brothers and sisters,
today, let us learn this great lesson. If we are rich or talented, or we have been
given special positions in life, we must be humble. Because it is not of the work we
do. It is because of God's grace and His blessings, that He wants to use us to
bless others, to help others, not to control, not to put people down. And so,
pride and arrogance will destroy whatever talents that the Lord has given to us.
Instead of putting them to good use, we destroy people around us. So, we pray for
humility. We pray for wisdom. And most of all, we pray that we will be inclusive in
the work we do, so that we can truly build unity and help people to
encounter God's love in us.
