reproaches of his wife Michal : but, when ho heard them, instead of being moved with indignation against her, he meekly replied, " I will be yet more vile than thus, and will be base in my own sight11." It was but a small matter to the holy Apostles, that they were considered " as the filth of the world, and the oft-scouring of all things':" they knew that they de- served nothing but wrath and indignation at the hands of God; and, having obtained mercy of the Lord, they cared not what treatment they met with at the hands of men. To be rendered conformable to our Divine Master in the bitterest reproaches, or the most ignominious death, will, if we be truly humble, be a matter rather of joy and gratitude than of mourning and complaint.
At the same time we must be willing to take on ourselves the lowest offices. To become " the servant of all k" must be our highest ambition. Even the Lord of Glory himself, in the days of his flesh, came not to be ministered unto, but to mi- nister : and this he did, even to the " washing of his disciples' feet1 :" yea, though he was in the form of God, and thought it not robbery to be equal with God, yet he took upon him the form of a servant, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." " This is the mind that should be in usm :" and this is the example which, as far as circumstances will admit of it, we should follow.
Here is the perfection of humility: and this is the grace which every one of us should be putting on from day to day.]
Nothing can more strongly mark the importance of this duty, than,
II. The considerations with which it is enforced —
The declaration, that " God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble," is cited from the book of Proverbs : and, that it deserves especial at- tention, is evident from this ; that St. James, as well as St. Peter, adduces it for the warning and instruc- tion of the Catholic Church".
1. " God resisteth the proud" —
[He does so : he abhors the very persons of the proud : " they are an abomination to him0 :" he perfectly scorns themp :
b 2 Sam. vi. 22. « 1 Cor. iv. 13. k Mark x. 44.
> John xi. 13, 14. m Phil. ii. 5—8. n See Jam. iv. 6.
0 Prov. vi. 16, 17.
p Prov. iii. 34. This is the passage that is citedboth. by St. Peter and St. James.