I do not accept human praise: Reflection for Thursday, April 3, 2025

Jesus says, “I do not accept human praise.” In a culture that often accepts the very weathly as heroes, Jesus offers quite a different model. He says, “I say this so that you may be saved.” Readings for Today.

I do not accept human praise

In the movie Beaches, starring Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey, Bette Midler’s character is given a Tony award. In her acceptance speech, she wants to thank the one person who made this award possible. She refers to herself.

Later, in the gathering at her apartment after the awards show, she makes another self-aggrandizing statement. She has been speaking on and on about herself. Then, in what seems like an acknowledgment she has gotten carried away, she says this. “That is enough about me. Let’s talk about you. What do you think of me?”

Now it is true that we all want to be appreciated for the work that we do. And we want some kudos when we have done well. But does this type of arrogance carry over into the spiritual life? Do the things we claim we do for God form boxes we seek to check off so that we can tell ourselves just how good we are?

Consider the story of the Pharisee and the publican.

““Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity—greedy, dishonest, adulterous—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’ But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

It is easy to look down upon others who do not seem to be doing well in life. But this is deadly in the spiritual life. Saint Paul reminds us that “All have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God.” All of us stand in need of a savior. And that savior is Jesus.

And yet to be saved we must accept Jesus as our savior. We have to open our hearts to receive his grace. We have to recognize we cannot save ourselves. And all of this requires faith in Jesus.

But how often do we settle for something less than Jesus. How often do we look to a quick fix, or an easy promise, and fail to see the eternal promise that Jesus gives us. Consider this line from today’s gospel. “How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another
and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God?“

Jesus reminds us that all that really matters in the end is not how others see us, but how God sees us. Are we willing to do the works of God? Are we willing to love our neighbor, and to see Jesus in every other person in the world, those who are our neighbors?

Jesus shares with us the things we need to be aware of in terms of proof that we accept the gift of the salvation of Christ. “But I have testimony greater than John’s. But I have testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me.“

The question, of course, is what works do we have than can serve as testimony of our desire to accept Jesus into our lives.

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