Magnificat Vol. LX, No. 1 5 ginning and down through the ages, we do not need an ecstasy to understand this great truth: that it is indeed pride, the ME that ruins people... But if God reminds us of this by means of an ecstasy, it is because we humans are blinded and deluded, both by our frivolity and by our excessive ego, which impairs our judgment. Each one of us finds our ego rather special, rather singular. Sometimes, too often even, we think that our ego is better than our neighbor’s. Worse yet, even if we do not admit it to ourselves, God’s will, His projects, His plans are weighed against our ego. Our ego evaluates everything. Jesus, our great Model The great Model, here as elsewhere, which motivates us to practice all the virtues, but especially that of self-denial, is Jesus, the Redeemer, the Repairer. He is the witness to man’s sin; He is the One who is offended. He sees us fall into this stupidity. That is the most charitable word one can employ, because in reality we are pretty stupid, we behave like idiots. It is precisely because of our lack of intelligence that God shows us mercy. We are obviously far more stupid than the Serpent, because he did not receive the mercy of God. What do you expect? Our God has mercy on us. At least let us acknowledge that we lack intelligence. To get us out of our mire, Jesus comes to show us the royal road. Do you recall the occasion when Jesus proclaimed His kingship? It is precisely the Gospel of the Mass on the Sunday of Christ the King. The multitude of the Jews dragged Jesus before the tribunal of Pilate, who asked Him: “They say You are a king. Are You really a king?” – “Yes, says Jesus, yes, I am a King.” venom of self-love, vanity for their little person, their ego. The same pride that ruined Satan and the angels ruined our first parents. This pride of a free creature is virtually a mystery! And yet, we all experience it, we all carry it inside us. I will repeat the little sentence spoken by Saint Mary of Jesus Crucified in ecstasy: “The me is what ruins people.” When we see what has happened from the very be-
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