MAKE GOD'S DREAM COME TRUE

Monday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time
Lk 9:46-50

It is not bad to dream big. It is not immoral to aim high. It is not a sin to want to become great. God’s dream for us is big, high, and great. God wants us to inherit His Kingdom. Let us aim high and dream big. Let us become great saints for God!

The disciples in the Gospel today are arguing about which of them is the greatest. They are arguing in whispers because Jesus just started telling them about the horrible fate awaiting Him in Jerusalem. What a shame: the Master is giving a lecture on His death while the disciples are debating on greatness! How can they be so indifferent, callous, and uncaring? That is exactly what happens when we do not dream with God, when we do not dream God’s dream. We dream to be greater than others, to be even the greatest among everyone. Worse, we even dream of becoming at par with God. Worst, we even dream of becoming greater than God.

But God dreams that we all become great in His Kingdom, and so Jesus reveals the secret for us to achieve this dream. In the upside-down Kingdom of Heaven, the way down is the only way up: the least is the great. A good Leader that He is, who teaches by example, Jesus humbled Himself and became the least among us so that He may lead us to that Kingdom that God dreams for us to own.

In all things we do, let us strive to be humble. Let us lift others up instead of stepping on their shoulders. Let us serve rather than be served. When we do so, we do not only ask God to make our dream come true. We make God’s dream come true instead.

Dream big, aim high, and become great by choosing to serve the smallest, doing the lowliest task, and becoming the least among others. And let us nurture our dream of greatness with this prayer:

The Litany of Humility
Prayer of His Eminence Merry Cardinal del Val

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being honored, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being praised, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being approved, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being despised, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected, deliver me, Jesus.

That others may be loved more than I,
- Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I,
- Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That in the opinion of the world others may increase and I may decrease,
- Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside,
- Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I unnoticed,
- Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything,
- Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should,
- Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

Jesus, meek and humble of heart,
- make our hearts like unto Thine. Amen.

Let us make God happy. Let us make His dream come true!