(Monastery of the Incarnation at Avila, where St. Teresa spent many years)

"The truth is magnificent: 

we are nothing, 

but God dwells in us and 

God is everything."

I may have posted this quote from the great St. Teresa of Avila before, but if I have, it bears repeating. 😇She here brilliantly sums up the virtue of humility, and somehow, in just a few words, grinds mankind into the very dust, then lifts us higher than the heavens. We are nothing, but God chooses to live within us by His grace, and He is everything. True self-esteem consists in this -- seeing ourselves as God's beloved children, in whom He chooses to live by His grace. As St. Paul said, "I live, now not I; but Christ liveth in me." This is what makes us great, in spite of our weaknesses.

Let our hearts be like the walled city of Avila (shown below). If we let our guard down, we allow the devil and vice to storm inside the castle of our hearts. Instead, let us keep God and His grace inside the haven of our hearts. This makes us truly great!