Sirach 3:1718,20,28-29; Hebrews 12:18-23; Luke 14:1,7-14

It is through pride that sin and suffering came into this world.  Our first parents, Adam and Eve, were faced with the very temptation that resulted in the fall of the tempter.  As faith teaches us, Satan began as an angel named Lucifer.  Created as a pure spirit, with full knowledge and will, Lucifer wanted to be God.  As creature, though, Lucifer could never become his Creator, and so he was cast out of heaven, along with all the other angels whom he had brought into his army.

This is why Satan tempted Adam and Eve with his own desire.  He promised them that they would be like God.  They gave into this temptation.  They were not content to simply accept the gifts which God had given them.  In their desire to have more, in their desire to be like God, they brought great pain and suffering upon themselves, and they brought sin and suffering into the world.

Now the desire to be like God is not a bad thing.  After all, we have been created in God’s image and likeness and so it our destiny to become like God.  We are truly happy only when we live in God’s likeness and image.  But being like God is not the same as being God.  This is where the sin of pride enters the picture.

If we want more than what is ours to have we will be met with disappointment and sadness.  God has gifted each one of us in a unique way.  Some have the gift of speaking, others of listening; some the gift of leadership, others the gift of following.  We have each been graced by God with specific gifts and abilities and it our calling to discover these gifts and live according to our own unique purpose.

But sometimes we do not recognize our gifts, or are not satisfied with what has been given us and so we become ungrateful and develop a desire for more.  The greatest gift that God has given us, next to our faith, is the gift of one another.  However, sometimes we have such a strong sense of independence that we forget our need for other people.  Self-pride gets in the way of our relationships and we end up lonely.

It is this false sense of pride which motivates us to go out and buy the best car, and the best clothes, and live in the best houses, especially when we find ourselves living beyond our own financial abilities.  This once was called “keeping up with the Joneses,” or trying to be something we are not.  The problem with this is that no matter how much a person owns, no matter how much wealth a person accumulates, our possessions will not bring us happiness.

It is pride which perpetuates some of our own false images.  It is pride which keeps the addict from seeking help.  It is pride which keeps a dysfunctional family from dealing with their problems.  It is pride which continues the cycles of abuse.  “I am too ashamed to ask for help.  I am too afraid of what others will think.  I am too afraid to confront my problems.  I am too afraid to turn to God.”

Pride causes pain and suffering.  Pride causes loneliness as it prevents us from reaching out to others for help.  Pride came into the world through people and so it was through the humility of one person that pride was conquered.  That person is Jesus Christ.  God humbled himself by becoming human with all our limitations.  Not only did God choose to become human, he also chose the humblest of all humanity by being born to a poor Jewish girl married to a common laborer.  They were so lowly that when it was time to be born into this world, God was born in a barn because there was no room in the place where the respectable people lodged.  God’s first visitors were shepherds, the lowest of all people on the social scale.

He lived at a time when the religious leaders were more concerned with power and prestige than with the faith of God’s people.  The political structure of his time clearly divided the multitudes of poor from the very small number of wealthy people.  He lived at a time when people were considered outcast because of disease, unemployment, and even sin.

The world hasn’t changed all that much.  We still have corrupt religious leaders more concerned about wealth and personal gain than about the salvation of people.  Our political and economic structure is eating away at the middle class further dividing the haves from the have-nots.  We are afraid of, and tend to shun people who have highly communicable diseases.  We criticize and look down on people living on welfare and unemployment.  We are quick to judge others when they have sinned.  These are some of the many prices we pay for pride.

The answer to all this is humility.  Just as God humbled himself and came to dwell among us, we must also foster the virtue of humility in our lives.  Christ came to show us how to do this.  To be like Christ we must be humble servants to one another, washing each other’s feet, taking the lowest places at table.  We foster humility when we choose to love and care for those who are less fortunate than us.  We foster humilty by acknowledging our faults and failings and using the power of God’s grace to grow beyond these limitations.  We foster humility by recognizing that all that we have in this life is a gift from God to be used to build up is kingdom on earth.  We foster humility by recognizing that every single human person, rich or poor, young or old, born or unborn, is a reflection of the God who made us all.

And so today, in this Eucharist, let us ask for the grace of humility so that we can let go of our own pride and become what we are truly called to be.  Let us ask for the grace to accept our human limitations and overcome our weakness and brokenness.  Let us ask for the grace of God’s healing so that we can help heal others.  Let us ask for the grace to become what have been made and called to be, the Body of Christ.

Why is the Vatican sometimes called the “Holy See”?

A little background in ecclesiology will help explain why we call the Vatican the Holy See. The church is very structured and organized in its hierarchy. A diocese is a geographic area governed by a bishop appointed by the pope. Each diocese is further broken down into parishes, which have pastors who represent the bishop in his teaching authority.
The diocese of Rome has a particular role in the church because of its importance and antiquity. The pope is head of the church because he is the bishop of Rome. Every bishop has a seat or throne, which is the symbol of his teaching authority and is located in the cathedral of his diocese. The Latin word for seat is sedes. So each diocese can be referred to as a “see.” Most people think that St. Peter’s Basilica is the cathedral of Rome. However, it is actually the Basilica of St. John Lateran that is the cathedral church of Rome. The original palace on the site was given to the popes by the Roman emperor, Constantine, in the fourth century. It is in the Lateran basilica that the pope’s seat or throne as bishop of Rome is found. So, the Holy See is a reference to the pope’s episcopal jurisdiction and governance of the church as occupant of the chair of Peter, distinct from the governing of Vatican City State.

©2009 Liturgical Publications Inc
Used with permission

Contact Jordan for more info: (701) 232-2414 or by E-mail: jordanb@nativitycatholicchurch.net

Recent monsoon rains have caused disastrous conditions and unimaginable suffering for the people of Pakistan. Catholic Relief Services, who have been working in Pakistan since 1954, are calling on the Catholic community for a generous and compassionate response to relief efforts there.
The following story by Liz O’Neill, CRS Communcations Officer for Europe, the Middle East and Asia, gives a more detailed description of  what Pakistanis are now experiencing:

The worst flooding in Pakistan’s history has cut a swath of destruction from the northern mountain regions to wheat fields in the south. More than 16 million people have been touched by the upheaval brought by recent heavy rains.

Hundreds of thousands have lost their homes, at least 1,500 people have been killed, crops and livestock have been destroyed, and heavily trafficked roads and bridges have disappeared.
“One of our staff members from Swat—in the north of Pakistan—told me that the entire map of his district has changed. The floodwaters cut a brand-new path through the land. There are places he doesn’t even recognize now,” says Carolyn Fanelli, acting country representative for Catholic Relief Services Pakistan.

The images and tales of survival weigh heavily on the minds of CRS staff responding to the emergency.

“Some members of our team met with an entire family swept away by the flooding. The children were in one part of the rushing water, separated from their parents who were scrambling to stay afloat several yards away. There was nothing anyone could do to help. The family was eventually rescued downstream, but one of the children didn’t make it,” Fanelli says.

“We also met a family who had just celebrated the opening of their own shop the day before the floods. By the next morning, their shop was gone.”

Key roads and bridges simply vanished, forcing long, arduous treks over muddy mountain terrain to reach people in remote villages in desperate need of help.

In the last two days, CRS has distributed plastic sheeting, water purification tablets and other relief items to people in the Swat Valley.

“At first, we didn’t get to as many families as planned because a new landslide blocked the way—our team got stuck on one side of it,” says Fanelli. “But as of Monday, August 9, we’ve reached more than 2,300 people in hard-hit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in the north. Before that, CRS distributed supplies to 4,000 people in the Kohlu and Barkhan areas of Balochistan in the southern part of the country.”

In one area of Shangla district in northern Pakistan, a CRS team discovered that almost all the existing water systems and walking paths were washed away.
CRS engineers are now repairing five separate water systems in the region. The agency has years of experience building and repairing water systems in remote mountainous areas of Pakistan, having worked on hundreds of systems following the 2005 earthquake there.

CRS briefly had to evacuate our office in Besham, a town in Shangla district, on Sunday, August 8, because of rising floodwaters, but staff returned the next day. CRS and our partners have opened an office in the Sharpor Valley of Shangla in order to better serve this remote area.

Once immediate needs are met, CRS will help farmers and others resume work and help rebuild their lives. In several areas, including Swat, CRS is planning cash-for-work projects that pay survivors for their labor on projects, such as irrigation channels, pathways and retaining walls that benefit whole communities.

“It’s going to be a long road ahead,” says Fanelli. “But CRS staffers are doing tremendous work under difficult conditions.”

More information and opportunities to donate to the relief effort may be found at www.crs.org.

The U.S. Senate has postponed action on the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) until mid-September. Although supporters are disappointed by the delay, it is hoped that the extra time will allow for more discussion and reflection that will lead to the ratification of this important treaty. Take the opportunity to learn more about it and to contact your senators.

We’ve received this message from Lake Agassiz Habitat for Humanity:

Habitat NEEDS volunteers to help construct homes! Please join us in helping 3 families attain their dream of homeownership!

Volunteers needed for the following dates:

August 7,8, 11, 12, 13 at 1216 Goldenwood Drive, West Fargo
Register online at www.lakeagassizhabitat.org or by calling the office at 218-284-5253.
Groups are welcome!
Materials, tools and training are provided.
8:00 AM – 4:00 PM (or half days)

Please consider giving a day of volunteerism to Habitat for Humanity.