Contemplation of God’s Mercy: Remedy for Vanity and Pride
My God, … my life, thoughts, words and deeds will be works of your mercy … You will deign to work everything in me in an entirely spiritual and invisible way, so that I will not find myself exposed to the perils of vanity and pride. (OOCC, X, p. 309; STA, 347)
St. Vincent Pallotti always wanted to be a humble person. He wished to depend on God for everything in his life, rather than on himself. Yet he often wrote in his diary that pride was his greatest vice. He constantly made efforts to overcome his pride. One of the methods St. Vincent Pallotti used to rid himself of pride and vanity was the contemplation of the mercy of God. He often reminded himself that he was nothing but a prodigy of God’s mercy, as outside the realm of God’s mercy he was “nothingness and sin.” The Catholic Apostolate he was engaged in also was a trophy of God’s mercy. He also knew very well his ministry of evangelization and the success he experienced in it were simply products of God’s mercy. The more he meditated on the manner in which God had shown him mercy in the various situations of everyday life, the more he realized how foolish he was in becoming prey to his own pride and vanity. The constant contemplation of God’s merciful dealings with him made him believe that his life, thoughts, words and deeds were works of God’s mercy and made St. Vincent shun pride and vanity.
Do I recognize God’s merciful dealings in my life? Do I accept the fact that without being open to God’s mercy, my life would be meaningless? Does the contemplation of God’s mercy help me to overcome my pride and vanity?
Masters, act in the same way towards them [slaves], and stop bullying, knowing that both they and you have a Master in heaven and that with him there is no partiality. (Eph. 6: 9)