Sometimes we can be such arrogant little creatures. We presume that the blessings we have now are due to our own wonderful merit, and forget all about the grace of God. So how often have we been like the rich man, sumptuously dining on the good things God has given us as if they were the fruits of our own creation, and ignoring all the while the Lazaruses at our door? Jeremiah makes it clear how welcome that kind of behavior is in the kingdom of heaven: “Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh, whose heart turns away from the LORD.” Blessed instead, the Psalmist tells us, are those who hope in the Lord. We should celebrate our blessings for what they are: gifts of God, gifts to be shared with those in need. “For the LORD watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked vanishes.”