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Saturday, October 20, 2012

The Humble Servant

Suffering humbles us while humility strengthens our faith.  Suffering therefore, serves a purpose in the spiritual life. Recently the Holy Father said:

The New Evangelization calls for new humility. The Gospel cannot thrive in pride. When pride seeps into the heart of the Church, the Gospel proclamation is harmed. The task of new evangelization must begin with a deep sense of awe and reverence for humanity and her culture. Evangelization has been hurt and continues to be impeded by the arrogance of its messengers. The heirarchy must shun arrogance, hypocrisy and bigotry. We must punish the errant among us instead of covering up our own mistakes. We are humans among our human flock. All our beauty and holiness we owe to God. This humility will make us more credible New Evangelizers. Our mission is to propose humbly not to impose proudly.

When you look to rid your own pride you are free to love because you then can see the layers of imperfection around others as something not to criticize but to pray to cast off (in His Name, cast it out!) so you can love the essence of a person. This is the "true" you: the one who is "prideless."

As Catholics, our Spiritual Leaders can be effective models of humility for us.  Perhaps no greater characteristic can a priest possess than that of a humble  servant. 

 Fr. Andrew Apostoli C.F.R.  is an example of a humble priest.  As a founding member of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, Father Apostoli has an acute awareness of the "deep sense and awe of humanity" and he always strives to "love the essence" of every person, especially the poor

His order is dedicated to the humble service  of others.  Father Apostoli brings a great wealth of spiritual and practical wisdom gained from personal experience.  His classical book on the Works of Mercy is just one of many examples.  He states, "The works of mercy provide us with the opportunity to let every person know he is a child of God and a brother in Christ. From the works of mercy will emerge a community of love and peace centered on Christ."  

Fr. Andrew is one of the 100 individuals highlited on Brandon Vogt's blog in an effort to promote Catholic Speakers. 

The following is a link to more of Fr. Andrew's books and tapes.

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