Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations. — Psalm 96:3

Mass readings: Acts 15:7-21 / John 15:9-11 

Open Your Gifts 

This is a great week for saints’ feasts. Following yesterday’s scholar and mystic, we learn today about St. Philip Neri, the patron of Rome. Like St. Mary Magdalene da Pazzi, he was a 16th-century Florentine. Unlike her, St. Philip was infamous for his humor. Because humility was his greatest virtue, this saint used self-deprecation to keep that humility up to par. I read he wore “ridiculous clothes” or walked around “with half his beard shaved off” to keep arrogance at bay. 

Can we disabuse ourselves of the idea that those who serve God must scowl and wear hair shirts? I like to think Jesus laughed, cracked a joke, kidded an unwary disciple. Humor is a God-given gift. Let’s remember to say “thank you” for it, unwrap it, and put it to good use.  

Prayer: Jesus, we thank You for the gifts that define us.