This is the first of the my “What Sticks” posts - posts about sermons that I have heard that have stuck with me across time. For all of these, I am certain that I am not doing them justice relative to their original deliver. I am sure I am missing an illustration or nuance. I can only give what stuck. I suspect these may have grown or elaborated a bit over the years, but the essence remains.
This first remembrance is from my childhood years, from a mass I heard while attending Catholic school (I must have been somewhere between 4th and 6th grade). It was given by our Irish priest who’s charm and wit endeared him to the congregation across all ages, particularly to us children. The topic was what an ego really was.
This was some time in the late 70’s. I am not sure that you hear about someone having a big ego as much as you did then, but I think people still understand who someone with a big ego is. The arrogant, the self-important, those who “are somebody” and know it, those with a lot of pride, movers and shakers - they have big egos. But to some extent, we all can have big egos. We all can be full of pride or self satisfaction. We certainly are all in danger of growing a big ego if we become full of our own selves. I typically find such people with “big egos” as unpleasant - as though something is wrong. When you know what ego really stands for you can understand why
Ego really stands for Edging God Out.
You see, the bigger our egos, the less room we have for God. If we fill ourselves with our own pride, our own self importance, our own image, then we leave no room for God to fill us. The ironic thing is that the bigger our egos, the more empty we feel. To be truly fulfilled, we need to decrease so that Christ can increase. Only Christ can make us whole, only he can satisfy our need and longing. It is when we let go of our ego, and are humbled, and Christ can work through us that we are what we are meant to be - not full of our own image, but conformed to the image of Christ.
