Don’t get angry at your neighbour for every little injury, and don’t behave rashly. Pride is hateful to the Lord and humanity, and injustice is outrageous to both. Control of a kingdom passes from one group of people to another because of injustice, arrogance, and greed. How can we, dust and ashes ,be proud? Even during life a person’s body decays. A long sickness baffles the physician; a king today is a corpse tomorrow. When people die, they inherit maggots, wild animals and worms. Pride begins when a person abandons the Lord and turns away from his Maker. Pride begins with sin; those who remain proud are abominable. For this reasons the Lord brings them which completely destroy them. The Lord overturns the thrones of princes and sets up the meek in their place. The Lord plucks up the roots of proud nations and plants the humble in their place. The Lord overthrows the nations and destroys them to their very foundations. He removes some of them and destroys them. He erases their memory from the earth (Sir. 10:6-17)
A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. Why am I so honoured, that the mother of my Lord should visit me? When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.” Mary responded, “Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. How my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour! For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed. For the Mighty One is holy, and he has done great things for me. He shows mercy from generation to generation to all who fear him. His mighty arm has done tremendous things! He has scattered the proud and haughty ones. He has brought down princes from their thrones and exalted the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands. He has helped his servant Israel and remembered to be merciful. For he made this promise to our ancestors, to Abraham and his children for ever.” ( Luke 1:39-55)
