Among the three signs of humility mentioned above, what do you find difficult to do? - Daily Reflections April 25,2015

A GARMENT TO WEAR CONSTANTLY   I was a provinciano (from the province) at heart in my preschool days. Before our family moved to the Manila, clothes that people wore lookedall the same to me. It did not matter whether your “trubinized” shirt was bought from Berg’s or from backwater Baclaran. After all, they were made in Bulacan.        Things are different now. The phenomenon of signature items has taken the world by storm, and people, like books, are now judged by their cover, i.e., by what they wear. Bench, Boss and Benetton betray one’s social status, even as Guess, Gap and Gucci categorize you in the eyes of fashionistas.  Let us be fashionistas for once today and follow Peter’s counsel.        The clothes that do not make the man do tend to make heads turn. I remember being dressed in my worn-out gray shirt many years ago as a young student priest in Rome. I went to the Spanish embassy asking for a visado (visa). I was ignored. People were a little gruff and, after being given the runaround, I went back home and put on my best suit. I went back to face the same grumpy ladies. I got my visa in about 10 minutes.          But that was one of the few times I cared about what I wore. Being short of stature and being shy by nature, people rarely turn their heads to take a better look at me. I savor the relative freedom that comes with not standing out in the crowd. But that freedom does not translate necessarily to genuine humility. “Wearing the garment of humility constantly” had very definite signs: a) being subject to elders; b) bowing down before God in prayer (“unloading one’s burdens to Him”); c) being one with the suffering of others by standing up to the wiles of the evil one.          Humility could be a put-on, but one cannot fake obedience and love for God, who “opposes the proud but accords his favor to the humble.” And humility is something one wears constantly from the inside out, not the other way around. Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB   REFLECTION QUESTION: Among the three signs of humility mentioned above, what do you find difficult to do?   Grant me the grace, Lord, to be humble and obedient to You.