Humility rewarded.

Humility,  rewarded.
*********************

Pope Francis,
Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born in Buenos Aires on December 17, 1936, the son of Italian immigrants.

His papal motto is,

"miserando atque eligendo"

Which means: 

“lowly  but chosen”

The phrase has special meaning.

It was taken from a homily of the Venerable St. Bede, concerning the vocation of Matthew.

He was working as a tax collector:

that is,

a collaborator with the power of the imperial invader

and,

therefore, a sinner in the eyes of the Jews.

Christ  came to this world to save sinners.

So, He chose Matthew, who was a sinner in the eyes of the Jews, as His Apostle.

"Jesus saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, ‘Follow me’" (Mt 9:9).

'Follow me' means 'be My disciple and live like Me'.

God is the one who “acts first.”

We seek Him,

but He seeks us first.

We want to find Him,

but He finds us first.

St. Matthew was 'lowly' in the eyes of the people.

But he was 'chosen' by Jesus.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was 'lowly' in his  own eyes, but was 'chosen' as Pope Francis.

His humility was rewarded by Jesus.

Lourdu Selvam.