Monday of Week 31 Year 2

From a young age, many of us would have been taught and encouraged by our family, teachers, lecturers and peers to be the best we can be. Being the best you can be is not an issue, but the issue could occur if our objective or purpose leads us to become egoistic, self-centered, proud, conceited or ruthless. A person may begin to glorify oneself, thinking that he or she achieved and became the best one could be without any outside help, or as some may say, the person begins to think that he or she is self-made, instead of giving God the glory.

In today's reading, St. Paul reminds us: "be united in your convictions and united in your love, with a common purpose and a common mind... There must be no competition among you, no conceit; but everybody is to be self-effacing. Always consider the other person to be better than yourself, So that nobody thinks of his own interests first but everybody thinks of other people’s interests instead." St. Paul is cautioning us not to become entrapped in the ways of the world, where the me, myself and I is more important. When we allow ourselves to be consumed by the ways of the world, we only think of our needs, we begin to pursue only that which is for our success and happiness, and eventually there is no place for others, even no place for God in our lives. In the end, we may be building our own kingdom, instead of God's Kingdom. May we learn to be humble, giving thanks for the many abilities, gifts and talents God has given us, and use them for His greater glory.