We don’t like mistakes. We hate our limitations. How many times do we get sick of fighting with ourselves to be perfect or better than others. How many times do we end up competing instead of living authentically just trying to be the best version of ourselves?

God does not want us in the race, he wants us alive. He wants us authentic.
To be authentic we have to make an important breakthrough, be humble.

Being humble does not mean being humiliated, living frustrated and always on the fringe of society or hidden away. Nor does it mean being proud and thinking that no one else can do things as well as us, or that no one suffers as we do. Humiliation is a form of violence against oneself, pride is instead violence against others. The Pharisee’s pride makes him violent as he discriminates against others and de-humanises them by considering them inferior to him.

Being humble means to be aware of oneself, of one’s limitations but also of one’s talents and to put them at the service of others, at the service of God. The publican asks God to help him overcome his limitations and by doing so he lives on a path, he puts himself at service. The Pharisee, on the other hand, has no path, he does not see it because he considers himself flawless and in his perfection he lacks a mission because he is not able to recognize it.

Humbleness is a turning point in human life that allows us to know who we are, and makes us feel responsible for ourselves. There can be no vocational breakthrough without achieving this awareness.

What is one tree compared to the whole forest? And yet it is necessary.
What is the finger in the palm of a hand compared to the whole body? Yet it is necessary.
We are all tiny features of the face of God. Yet we are essential.