“I have nothing to give but what you yourself have given me!” (St Catherine of Siena).
How true and liberating these simple words are! They lift the veil under which we humans often find ourselves, striving to be or appear to be something. Society certainly places such demands on us, and we feel we must live up to them. And yet: Is it not an illusion to rely solely on ourselves in doing so? When we forget where everything comes from? Is it not a form of blindness to fail to recognise the source — our divine Father, from whom everything comes?
The saint’s statement embodies the holy realism of humility, and therefore possesses the power of purity. This does not exempt us from doing our part, but we know who has given us everything and entrusted it to us in love.
What healing humility, and what an accurate description of reality!
If pride does not stand in our way, gratitude will grow alongside the inner liberation that comes with this perspective. God, in His goodness, has provided us with everything, and we return to Him what He has given us: our lives, our gifts, our present and future, and our hearts — everything!
And then? Then we become free!
Our lives are transformed into one great act of thanksgiving, and we enter into the mystery of love. We return to our Father what He has entrusted to us. We do not seek honour or praise from people. We do not seek self-affirmation. All of that is but vanity (cf. Eccl 1:2)!
We simply live our lives, knowing from whom everything comes!
That is how it is!