2/26/2014 – Wednesday of 7th week in Ordinary Time – James 4:13-17

      Today’s Letter of James tackles the subject of arrogance in our lives, of how we often eschew the humility God calls us to by thinking we have control of our lives and of the future. It seems like we take our health for grant when we aren’t having any problems, and then something can strike us suddenly without any warning or notice.   Then we know that we are not in control of what the future brings. When I think of humility, I think of Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, who served as Archbishop of Chicago from 1982 until his death in 1996.  Chicago’s priests can be a very feisty lot, but Bernardin was very beloved by both the priests and the people in this very important Catholic center in the Midwest. Bernardin humility can be seen in the works he undertook as Archbishop: being a voice in the Catholic-Jewish dialogue, bringing Liberal and Conservative elements in the Church in America together in the Catholic Common Ground Project, and speaking out against nuclear proliferation.   In a book about Saints that I am currently reading, written from the perspective of Protestantism, Bernadin is noted as one of the great pastoral leaders of the 20^th century and a man who one day could become a saint in our Church.  May the Lord help us to emulate the humility that Cardinal Bernardin lived out in his life.  May it lead us to confront the arrogance and selfishness that can take over our lives.