(A Daily Reflection on Divine Mercy)
The Lord, in His abundant Mercy, comes to you day and night
and joyfully enters your soul when it is open to Him. Even the greatest struggles do not deter our
Lord from coming to you. But one thing,
especially, keeps our Lord away. And
that is pride. Pride is the mother of
all sins and, simply put, is selfishness.
It’s a way of turning in on yourself as your primary concern. The problem with this is that you were made,
by God, for the purpose of giving yourself away. It’s in your very nature to become a gift to
others. And only in giving of yourself
to God and to others do you discover who you are and, in that act, you become
who you were made to be. So pride, in
its attempt to become self-concerned, actually has the effect of destroying
you. Pride leaves you with yourself and
allows no room for another, not even God (See Diary #1563).
Reflect upon the sin of pride today. Here is an examination for this sin: Pride is
an untrue opinion of ourselves, an untrue idea of what we are not. Have I a superior attitude in thinking, or
speaking or acting? Am I snobbish? Have
I offensive, haughty ways of acting or carrying myself? Do I hold myself above others? Do I demand
recognition? Do I desire to be always
first? Am I ready to accept advice? Am I in any sense a “bully” or inclined to
be “bossy”? Do I speak ill of
others? Have I lied about others? Do I make known the faults of others? Is there anyone to whom I have not spoken for
a long time? Am I prone to argue and be
offensive in my arguments? Am I self-conscious?
Am I sensitive? Am I easily
wounded? Reflect honestly on these sins
today and seek freedom from them.
Lord, please free me from
the self-centeredness that comes from pride.
May I seek the good of others with all humility and sincerity. Free me from this sin, dear Lord, and help me
to give myself away to You and to others, for in giving of myself I know I will
find myself. Jesus, I trust in You.
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