Eat My Dust!

That old fabler Aesop had a good grasp of the self-deceit in self-aggrandizement. He wrote: "The fly sat upon the axletree of the chariot wheel and said, 'What a dust do I raise!'" 

The first effect of arrogance is self-deception, as the word of God reminds us: "The pride of your heart has deceived you" (Ob 3). In the eyes of God, "arrogance is like the evil of idolatry" (1 Sm 15:23); hence, "the Lord detests all the proud of heart" (Prv 16:5). Were it not so evil, haughtiness would make one as laughable as the hoity-toity fly on the chariot axle.

But self-deceit is not the only spin-off effect of insolence. It leads to something far more heinous - the sin of "presumption." Presumption, as a sin, is pridefully presuming that one can attain holiness and even salvation by merely using one's free will, under law, without any need for God's grace - the heresy of Pelagianism.

Living as if there were nt need of God and his supporting grace is the greatest folly: "He who trusts in himself is a fool" (Prv 28:26). Jesus directed his parable of the pharisee and the publican to those "who were confident of their own righteousness" (Lk 18:9). To show the seriousness of this, Scripture says that this mentality causes one to lose all grace formerly accumulated: "If...he trusts in his righteousness and does evil, none of the righteous things he has done will be remembered" (Ez 33:13).

This excerpt is from the book One-Minute Meditations for Busy People, by John H. Hampsch, C.M.F., originally published by Servant Publications. It and other of Fr. Hampsch's books and audio/video recordings can be purchased from Claretian Teaching Ministry, 20610 Manhattan Pl, #120, Torrance, CA 90501-1863. Phone 1-310-782-6408 or www.Catholicbooks.net