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Love vs. Hatred—And the Winner Is?

July 4, 2023/0 Comments/in Catholic Writing and Publishing/by Larry Peterson

Love vs. Hatred—And the Winner Is?

There are two kinds of pride: negative pride and positive pride. This essay references negative pride, also known as “selfishness” or “meism.” Positive pride is the pride we take in working hard to do our best while loving our neighbor.

Enter the deadly sin of pride.

Love is all about giving, isn’t it? Christ loved us and GAVE His life for us. “No greater love is there than to lay down your life for a friend.” Now that is some serious giving. Most followers of Christ do their feeble best to follow His message. But: enter the deadly sin of pride. That demon can grab us in its powerful grip and, frequently, never let go. The great sin of pride is characterized by all those whose persona reflects words such as stuck-up, egotistic, aloof, cocky, dismissive, superior, or pretentious. The list can go on and on and on. It can be summed up by the phrase, “loving oneself more than anyone or anything else.”

Today it seems that pride has filled the hearts of many to a point where people, so consumed, now HATE unconditionally. What many of them hate most is one word and what it means. That word is made up of only two letters. That word is NO. They want no one to dare tell them what to do or how to behave. They have embraced secularism (defined as a system of political or social philosophy that rejects all forms of religious faith and worship).

Pride can destroy so much

How sad it is that pride can destroy so much, from family relationships to friendships to nations. Many people, when their “personhood” is offended by someone else, will instantly reject any love within them in exchange for a blast of using four-letter vitriol to express themselves. And that may be the precursor of an actual physical attack against their newfound enemy. The love they may have had vanished instantly. Was it even there to begin with?

Feigned love can vanish like a puff of smoke in a windstorm. Have you seen the “love” extended by political candidates toward each other? Have you noticed how it seems to come from those who have fallen in love with themselves over all else? Part of God’s gift of free will is allowing each and every one of us to make choices. Some of us can forgive and turn the other cheek. Others—no way.

They even reject natural law

Here is their problem: the Judeo/Catholic/Christian belief system has boundaries. Christianity tells us what God wants us to do and what NOT to do … why, the NERVE of Him! So, many secularists (not all) take it to another level in their selfish requests to abolish the influence of religions that have the audacity to say NO to certain behaviors. They even reject natural law in favor of their own personal agendas.

Catholics and other Christians are the most persecuted people on earth. Why is that? Why is there such hatred by so many toward something that is all about goodness and love? All Christians (including 1.2 billion Catholics and 800 million Protestants of varied denominations) follow Jesus Christ. That is 2 billion people (or two thousand million) who follow His teachings and His promise of Eternal Life. What is the crux of His teachings? Well, now, the bottom line is this: loving your neighbor, and forgiveness. Yeah, I know that many who proclaim to follow Jesus do not even attempt to Love their neighbor or forgive anyone for anything. How powerful is the sin of pride?

How can love and lorgiveness be things to hate?

The prideful rant against Christmas, which is all about giving. They rail on about using the name of God in schools and at sporting events. They want crosses at cemeteries taken down from the graves of fallen soldiers. In many cases, those who hate Christians kill them. Men, women, and children die every day in different parts of the world simply because they are followers of Jesus. How can love and forgiveness be things to hate? How powerful is the sin of pride?

Has anything changed?

Nothing has changed since Jesus walked the earth two thousand years ago. He preached Love & Forgiveness , so they beat Him, tortured Him, and killed Him. The loving crowds who screamed “Hosanna” on Palm Sunday turned fickle and screamed “Crucify Him” the following Friday. The list of people murdered for following Jesus over the centuries (including His own apostles) is countless. Being a Catholic and Christian was never supposed to be easy. Jesus Christ did nothing but love us, each and every one of us. Look what happened to Him. How powerful is the sin of pride?

Read the First Letter of John

So, during the trek toward Election Day 2024, the question to be considered might be this. What is love? The answer can be found in the Bible in the First Letter of John:

We have come to know and believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in Him. (1 John 4:16)

Sadly, the war on Love increases in intensity.

©Larry Peterson2023 All Rights Reserved
Image: Pexels

Humility—What is it? Where is it? Who has it? How do we attain it? Let’s ask St. Benedict

December 4, 2018/0 Comments/in Catholic Writing and Publishing, Faith/by Larry Peterson

What is humility? The dictionary defines it as: (noun) “modest opinion or estimate of one’s own importance, rank, etc.”

The opposite of humility is pride. Pride is defined as: (noun) “a high or inordinate opinion of one’s own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether as cherished in the mind or as displayed in bearing, conduct, etc.”

Apparently, in this modern, self-absorbed world the pride factor has taken over. There used to be a slogan that said, “Sticks and stones can break your bones, but names can never hurt you.” It seems that slogan has been thrown into the dustbin of antiquity. The new slogan seems to be, “That was offensive. I demand an apology.” (or something like that).

It seems that more than half of the human race smothers itself to death with self-absorption. This condition may warrant a journey back in time to visit one of the greatest of Catholic saints; his name is St. Benedict of Nursia. Benedict’s work was so important in the evangelization of most of Europe that in 1964 Pope (now Saint) Paul VI proclaimed St. Benedict the Patron Saint of Europe.

Benedict authored the Benedictine Rule. Included in these rules are the Twelve Steps of Humility. Let us see what this saint has to say about humility. Since Benedict wrote in detail about each step, what follows will be a brief synopsis of each one.

Benedict introduced his Twelve Steps with this preface:

“Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.” (Luke 14:11)

How to be Humble:

Step one: The Fear of God. Man must keep the fear of God always before his eyes and never forget His commandments. The fear of God means reverence for God, and by offending God, we offend ourselves.
Step 2: Not My Will, but Yours, O Lord (John 6:38). This means to be humble we must avoid taking pleasure in our own wants and desires but always strive to do God’s will before all else.
Step 3: He was obedient even unto death (Philippians 2:8). Humility requires us to be obedient to authority which includes our parents, our priest, lawful authority, etc.
Step 4: Embrace Suffering Patiently and Obediently. “For he that will save his life shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for my sake, shall find it.” (Matthew 16:24-25)
Step 5: Confess our sins and faults. This means we should regularly confess our sins to a priest through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Step 6: Be content with lowliness. We should accept that we are sinful and frail and when left to ourselves we are not much, but to God we are of precious value — so much so that he suffered and died for us.
Step 7: Understand our Interior Mediocrity. “It is a blessing that you have humbled me so that I can learn Your commandments” (Psalm 119:71, 73).
Step 8: To Keep the Rule. This is to remind the Benedictines to keep the Rule of their Order. It reminds us to keep the rules of Holy Mother Church.
Step 9: Silence and Solitude. We should always avoid speaking ill of others and try to embrace silence and solitude whenever God provides it for us.
Step 10: Keep Your Peace in Times of Laughter. This pertains to us laughing and making fun of others, something we should never do.
Step 11: Speak Calmly and Modestly. We should train our tongue so that the words we speak are foremost, pleasing to God and never
Step 12: Everlasting Humility and Meekness. We should strive to live our lives, day and night, by bearing whatever problems or adversities we are experiencing thereby allowing God’s kindness and gentleness to shine through us.

Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val was Secretary of State to Pope (now Saint) Pius X. He wrote the famous Litany of Humility. We might pray that more people embrace the gift of humility. We certainly need more of it.

The Humility of the Blessed Virgin Mary—The Most Humble Person who ever Lived

August 7, 2018/0 Comments/in Catholic Writing and Publishing/by Larry Peterson

We know that the Blessed Virgin Mary was, without doubt, the perfect disciple of Jesus in the practice of all virtues. Ironically, the most profound and important of all the virtues, the actual bedrock of their very existence, is the virtue of humility. We never really hear of this virtue in relation to Our Lady even though it is the one virtue that places her above all other creatures (excluding Her Son) from the beginning to the end of time. St. Bernard says, “Humility is the foundation and guardian of the virtues, and with good reason, for without it no other virtue can exist in a soul.”

For some reason, the great feast of Our Lady of Humility is not celebrated very much today. Matthew 11:29 reads, “Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me for I am Meek and Humble of Heart …” The first true disciple of Jesus is His very own Mother.

Humility is probably the most difficult virtue of recognizing because the more profound it is in a person, the less visible it presents itself; willingly and quietly going to the back of the line so others can go first might be an example. In our present-day world, we are aware that exaltation and devotion are given to our Blessed Mother. However, her life on earth was not that way at all. And this is where we must look so we can understand the virtue of humility as practiced by the Mother of God. That is because all virtues for our common Catholic/Christian life can be found in Mary.

If we look at Our Lady’s life, we can see that everything she ever did was predicated on grace. Her words to the Angel Gabriel were, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word.”

A handmaid is a servant and Mary immediately gave herself over as the “handmaid of the Lord.” From that moment forward she would do only what her God asked and would remain ever ready to fulfill any further wishes, never using her unique position to promote herself or her own ambitions.

How many of us have undertaken personal quests because we are driven by our pride? We might perceive ourselves as “great” singers, or athletes, or writers, or doctors, and even become jealous of those who attain loftier positions or more praise than we do. Even priests and religious have aspired to lofty positions, not because of grace but rather, because of their own vanity.

There are many sets of virtues within the Catholic faith. Among those virtues are the Contrary Virtues. Foremost among these are humility against pride. The great evil of pride is that it causes us to be unable to detach ourselves from the good works we are actually doing. For example, knowing the public praise you might receive for completing a certain project becomes your motivation to help others, causing you to become a slave to your own pride. The “good work” was not done for the glory of God but rather, for the aggrandizing of yourself.

If we step back and do our best to look at the Blessed Mother’s humility, we see that all she ever did was to love and serve God: always, and at every moment. She was a selfless homemaker taking care of her husband and her son. She quietly and dutifully observed her position and her Jewish faith. She knew who she was and was aware of what her purpose had become. She was with Jesus as he went through His passion and death. She was at the foot of the Cross when He died for us. She held His lifeless body, cradling His bloodied head in her motherly arms.

There are “good works” for which we are not called. Pride steps in and drives us to do things that may lead to impatience, criticism of others, gossiping, back-biting, and other sinful things. If we work on building our humility we can grow to fear this type of behavior.

How can we build and reinforce our humility? We should immediately turn to the Blessed Virgin Mary. She is our Mother and will help us. Her example is one of selflessness — always selflessness. Everything she did was out of obedience and for the glory of God. Let us contemplate Our Lady more each day. Let us also strive to follow, even though unattainable, her virtue of Perfect Humility.

The Feast Day of Our Lady of Humility, also known as The Humility of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is July 17.

Our Lady of Humility, pray for us.

Humility and Pope Francis

February 2, 2016/2 Comments/in Current events, Inspirational, Spiritual Life/by Larry Peterson

Image source: Cassie Pease Designs..

This is from the Gospel of Luke; Chapter 9: vs 46-50

An argument arose among the disciples about which of them was the greatest.

Jesus realized the intention of their hearts and took a child and placed it by his side and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.

For the one who who is least among all of you is the one who is greatest.”

This gospel reading is all about the greatest of all the ‘deadly’ sins, Pride. It is also about the greatest of all ‘heavenly’ virtues, Humility. This is a “clash of the titans” of evil vs Good. And Pope Francis, without trying and by just being who God made him to be, wears the mantle of humility without fanfare, showmanship, pretentiousness or anything that might be self-serving in any manner. Yes, he wears that mantle and it is fastened to his shoulders with the clasp of Love. In so doing he continually shows the whole world what it means to think of yourself the least among all others. (Was that a Fiat Hatchback or a Ford Taurus?)

Jorge Mario Bergoglio never asked to be a bishop or a cardinal. He never “lobbied” for these positions or sought them out in any way. He did not have “super-PACs” at his beck and call when the vacancy for Pope opened. He simply loved being a priest, working with the poor and homeless, and doing his best to follow God’s call so he would make his life pleasing to Him. Make no mistake, God called him to the papacy. The secular world may mock that concept, but that is why they do not understand. That is why they cannot experience the joy so many millions of faithful are experiencing with his papacy. If they could only swallow their damn pride a bit and open their hearts to some humility, they may find the elusive peace that evades them.

Pope Francis is filled with the Holy Spirit. That Spirit leads him to stop his motorcade and wade into a crowd of children and hug them and kiss their foreheads. It compels him to embrace the crippled, the disfigured, the mentally challenged, the homeless as well as the “uppity-ups.” He has no qualms about walking into a prison and embracing hard-core murderers, rapists, thieves, and drug dealers. Pope Francis sees the Face of Christ in EVERYONE.

Last September, during his stop in Washington, D.C., he visited with President Obama and then offered Mass in the National Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. When he finished he made a point of going to the offices of the Little Sisters of the Poor. He had to send a message to the entire world about the solidarity that exists within the Church when it comes to respect for life, ALL life. That message required no words—just action. The Pope gave that message by meeting with the Sisters who take care of the elderly poor free of charge, and have been doing so since St. Jeanne Jugan founded the order back in 1841.

Pope Francis left our country a more contented and inspired nation. He reached out to everyone and many responded. He represents the Goodness and Love that Jesus Christ brought to us and, despite the horrors of jihad and the emptiness of secularism pervading our lives, his presence and example make our world a better place. He is HIS ambassador on earth and he represents HIM well. We have all been blessed.

Tag Archive for: pride

Love vs. Hatred—And the Winner Is?

Love vs. Hatred—And the Winner Is?

Enter the deadly sin of pride.

Pride can destroy so much

They even reject natural law

How can love and lorgiveness be things to hate?

Has anything changed?

Read the First Letter of John

Humility—What is it? Where is it? Who has it? How do we attain it? Let’s ask St. Benedict

The Humility of the Blessed Virgin Mary—The Most Humble Person who ever Lived

Humility and Pope Francis

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