There must be very few people who have not felt what Paul describes in today's passage from the Letter to the Romans. Through all the teaching we have received, all that we have read, all the retreats and sermons we have been through, we have a pretty good idea of the kind of life that we are supposed to lead and the kind person we ought to be. We have the clear model of Jesus before us - loving, compassionate, forgiving, healing, serving¡K And yet how often we fail so miserably. We lose our tempers and get angry. We say nasty things about people - when they are absent, of course. We indulge in thoughts and desires we know are not good. We can so easily identify with Paul - "Instead of doing the good things I want to do, I carry out the sinful things I do not want¡K In my inmost self I dearly love God's law, but I can see that my body follows a different law."

Yet, there is something we might consider. We are not likely to become proud as long as we are aware of our weaknesses. The danger is when we no longer see these things as wrong or do not care about them. It is likely that those who are nearest to God are those who are most sensitive to those things which separate them from him. Remember the parable that Jesus told about the proud Pharisee and the humble tax collector. One boasted of his rectitude; the other asked pardon for his faults. Which of them, Jesus asked, was closer to God?