Father Basil Cole, O.P.     Most people want to aim for and achieve excellence in some way. We have been designed with many talents and gifts that are still in potentiality even if we are aged. But we all have a problem: we do not easily accept our limitations. We only look at what we can do but refuse to see what we cannot do or what needs improvement. Humility keeps us from exaggerating what we can do or have done. It also keeps us from thinking that we can save ourselves by ourselves, or that we can do great things without the help of God. Humble prayer opens up the heart of God, as it were. The humble person does not attempt to bribe God with promises that probably won’t be kept, as if he can do everything on his own to please God. Humility recognizes that it is God who must first give the grace of prayer to be able to receive efficaciously a favorable answer. Our Lord promised to exalt the humble and humble the proud. Sometimes, we need to be humbled by dry prayer that perseveres when all seems lost, or worse, a waste of time. This is a prayer that purifies us and prepares us to receive many graces.… From Praying with Saint Mark’s Gospel Daily Reflections on the Gospel of Saint Mark, 156 ed., Fr. Peter John Cameron, O.P. Magnificat, © 2011    Return to Home Page | Specials, Blessings & Prayers | Apple Seeds Archives | Articles & Publications | Church/Religious links | Gleanings | Fr. Brian's Photo Galleries | Academic & Education | Digital Tool Shed | Medical, Health & Wellness | Recipes & Food