Thank you, Lord,

that your grace

helps us realize that rebellion

against weakness, sins, mistakes

is the pride

of those who think themselves perfect

and forget that we are

weakness, weakness, weakness!

Ah! If only our pride understood

that you perform miracles

to sustain

true and genuine humility.

Helder Camara, 1909-1999, Brazilian Catholic Archbishop, advocate for the poor

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Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.  Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.  But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.