Pride blinds us from God’s grace, Filipino archbishop tells Youth Jubilee pilgrims

By Roy Lagarde/CBCP News

ROME --- A Catholic archbishop on Friday, Aug. 1, warned young Filipinos that pride can keep people from recognizing or receiving God’s grace, urging them to walk with humility and openness in their faith journey.

Speaking during a Mass with Filipino pilgrims attending the Jubilee of Youth, Archbishop Rex Andrew Alarcon of Caceres emphasized that engaging with people of different backgrounds, faiths and beliefs requires not only openness but also a deep sense of humility.

“Openness with humility allows us to see the presence of God in others,” Alarcon said, chairman of the Episcopal Commission on Youth of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, in his homily at the Pontificio Collegio Filippino.

“It must have the sense of humility, not pride. If you’re good, but your lens is pride, then your lens is not sharp. What you end up seeing is only yourself,” he said.

The archbishop likened humility to a lens that sharpens spiritual vision and helps believers recognize God’s hand in both pleasant and difficult situations — even in people who may be unfriendly or in moments of exhaustion and frustration.

“You can see God’s love even in messy circumstances,” Alarcon said. “Humility allows us to see God’s presence when we’re tired, when we’re not noticed, even when we don’t get what we expect.”

He cautioned that pride, by contrast, can close off the heart and mind, leading people to build emotional and spiritual walls that prevent them from receiving the good things God offers.

“Pride closes our eyes and ears,” he said. “It blocks us from recognizing grace.

“Let us continue to walk not only with hope, but with humility,” Alarcon added. “Humility that lets us see Christ in others — and recognize, not reject, God’s grace.”

The Vatican said Friday that 1 million young people from 146 countries have arrived in Rome to celebrate the jubilee.

The Youth Jubilee began with a Mass celebrated by Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, in St. Peter’s Square on July 29; and concluded on Aug. 3, Monday, with a Mass celebrated by Pope Leo.