You must give witness to Jesus. This means to teach, to teach the mind, the spirit, the doctrine of Jesus. Some of you are planning already to teach your parents, your relatives, your friends prayer, the rosary, the Church’s doctrine about marriage, chastity. Fine! This is good. Teach clearly, courageously, forcefully, but above all, listen carefully,  above all, you must teach humbly.

You must teach humbly not with an attitude of superiority. You are a child. You don’t tell your father and your mother as if you were a great doctor of a university: you do this, you must correct that. You must teach humbly. No one accepts a proud truth. Let me repeat those words: No one accepts a proud truth.

If what you say is true, but you say it with pride,  you say it with superiority, no one will accept that. They reject that. You must teach not with the feeling of superiority but in a childlike manner with great humility.

The pharisees taught (in the Gospel) but always with a complex of superiority. Always to make themselves feel morally superior. They taught with pride, and they were unsuccessful, and Jesus condemned this type of teaching.

So you teach first by your example, by what you do. First by your lives, not by your mouth, and then by your words. Your words should be humble and childlike. Charity is not proud. It is not conceited, says Saint Paul.

We are not spiritual snobs. We do not consider ourselves spiritually superior to others. Saint Paul says, “Consider all men superior to yourself.” So, speak humbly in a childlike manner with great respect.

Saint Francis de Sales says, “You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.” You know what vinegar is? It’s very bitter. You use it sometimes in cooking. It’s very bitter. But honey is very sweet. Very nice taste. So, if you wish to win souls for Jesus, you must use humble charity, which is like honey. You catch more flies with honey with one little spoonful of honey than with a barrel of vinegar.

Proud, superior teaching is like vinegar. It is better. No one accepts it. No one will swallow it.

Note: The above text is my transcription of a part of a recorded homily given by Fr. Al. You can listen to his recorded messages at the Monsignor Al Schwartz Memorial Center in Brgy. Biga, Silang, Cavite, Philippines