Quote of the day, 23 October: Silvio José Báez, o.c.d.

Honors, positions of importance, and titles don’t make us any greater. Our social status doesn’t climb when we desire others to praise, obey, or serve us. The person who dominates others by force and makes his will to be the law doesn’t reveal his greatness—he shows the lowliness of his morals and unhealthy pettiness.

Jesus wants to eradicate three deadly verbs from our daily life: to have, ascend, and command; in their place, he proposes that we should cultivate these three life-giving verbs: to give, descend, and serve.

Silvio José Báez, o.c.d.

Auxiliary Bishop of Managua
Homily, 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (excerpt)
19 September 2021

Translation from the Spanish text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: Photo label from EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid: “After years of below-average rainfall, 2020 was supposed to be a profitable year for farmers in Central America. The rain pattern developed as expected, anticipating what could have been one of the best yields in a decade. Then, the two hurricanes ETA and IOTA hit one after the other, in a fortnight, wreaking havoc and disrupting the lives and expectations of more than 7.3 million people across Central America and Colombia. Almost 400,000 people are still living in temporary and overcrowded shelters while many others are living with host families.” © European Union, 2020 (photographer: D. Membreño / Some rights reserved)