Gilpin observer., 1912-08-08
SUNDAYS SERMON
"HE THAT ExALTErH HIMSELF
SHALL BE HuMsLED AND HE
That. HUMsLETH HIMSELF
SHALL BE ExALTED."

Sermon delivered by Father Naugh-
ton 81 nday. August 4th, in st.
Mary's Catholic church.
"He that exalteth himself shall be
humbled and he that humbleth him
self shall be exalted"
My Dear Brethren
There is no more beautiful and at
the same time striking picture of the
great virtue of humility. than that
which is portrayed in the gospel of
the Pharisee and Publican. Two men
the gospel tells US, went up into the
temple to pray. The one a Pharisee
and the other Publican. The Phar-
isee standing, prayed thus with him
self: o God ! give thee thanks that
l am not as the rest of men, extor-
tioners, unjust adulerers, also as this
Publican. l fast twice in the week;
give tithes of all that / possess. And
the Publican, standing afar eff, would
not so much as lift up his eyes to-
wards heaven, but struck his breast
sinner. l say to you: this man went
down to his house justified rather
than the other; because everyone
that exalteth himselff shall be
humbled. and he that humbleth him
self shall be exalted.
Verify this is striking scene. We
can picture in Visions fancy the
proud Pharisee standing erect in the
temple and loud,ng prcclaiming his
own virtues to his Lord and Master.
He was so confident of his own good
ness, so thoroughly convinced of his
own self-importance and worth in the
eyes of Almighty God. that he did
not even deem it necessary to bend
his knee in addressing his Creator,
but rather prayed to Him standing
erect. Then in bold relief to this
Picture, the poor Publican appears be-
fore our minds eye, entering the
temple On the same mission as his
naughty brother the Pharisee, but so
filled with a sense of his own I'M
High; so thoroughly conscious Of his
own meaness in the sight of his
Creator. that We are told he would
rot so much as raise his eyes to
heaven but struck his breast and ask
ed his Masters pardon, saying, 20
God be merc!ful to me sinner
Here We have two types of char
acters, the proud scul and the hum
BILE soul, and the gospel tells us that
the humble man rather than the
proud, in this instance went down
to his home justified. This conclu-
sion is naturally to be expected. For
ed humility and never missed an op-
portunity of publicly practicing it
and most highly commencing it. BE
We meek and humble of heart And
why should we mortals be proud? :?
What have we Of ourselves which has
not been given to us by Almighty
God? "In Him we move and live"
says St Paul. "ani have our being"
Every gift of life. our health. the use
of the faculties of body and soul, all
our temporal goods, in one word
everything We possess, comes from
Him. the giver of all good gifts.
Therefore we as creatures in relation
to Almighty God our Creator, should
deeply feel and express our gratitude
to Him for all 4the blessings. He
has confessed upon us by our hui
mility in all things. We depend alb
solutely and entirely upon Him for
everything we need and therefore our
plain duty is ever to address Him in
the spirit of one fully conscious of
their own littleness and unworthiness
in His eyes.
Humility, furthermore, is the found
alton of every christian virtue, just
as pride. the opposite vice. is the
source Of all sin. Solomon was proud
and he fell; Abraham was proud and
he fell; Satan, sometimes called
Lucifer. the brightest and most beau
tiful angel We are told God ever
created was proud and ne fell. Pride
therefore. precedes the fall In a
similar manner, sooner or later. God
will punish the proud conduct OF the
sinner who in prosperity on account
of his temporal prosperity, turns his
back as It were upon God In his con-
duct, and like Lucifer and the rebel
llous angels cries out. II will not
serve" Rather my dear brethren. in
all things let us thank God abundant
ly for all his untold goodness to.
wards us and pray to Him in truly
humble spirit. For God resisteth the
proud and gives His grace to the