Before our shutdown in March I spoke about the importance of virtue. It was then my hope to break down each of the virtues over a series of months, but our campus ended up getting shutdown for COVID-19. I now wish to resume that conversation beginning with the virtue of humility.
Pride ,the opposite of humility, is known to us as being the root of all sin. Is Dante’s Inferno the prideful have a millstone hung around their neck. The millstone causes them to look downward as they study the world’s great lessons in humility. One of these lessons is that of the Annunciation when our Blessed Mother gave her “yes” to the angel of the Lord. In giving her “yes” she did not cry out in a spirit of pride, but instead lowered herself in God’s presence and said: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord be it done unto me according to your word.”
Saint Josemaria Escriva states of humility: “Don’t wish to be like the gilded weather-cock on top of a great building: however much it shines, and however high it stands, it adds nothing to the solidity of the building. Rather be like an old stone block hidden in the foundations, underground, where no one can see you: because of you the house will not fall.”
This is a true lesson in humility because we do not have to be seen nor recognized for what we do. Saint Therese of Lisieux instructs us in the Little Way where one can do little ordinary things in a spirit of prayer. These little ordinary things may never go noticed, but that is okay because that is not the reason why we do them. There will come points in our life where others will receive the recognition that we think that we deserve. Hopefully, we will allow ourself to take this lesson in humility to heart and not fight it in order that we may be recognized.
As Saint Josemaria Escriva states: “The more I am exalted, Jesus, the more I want you to humble me in my heart, showing me what I have been, and what I will be if you leave me.” This statement should make us realize our dependence upon God. So often we go throughout the day as if we are at life’s center and thus push the Lord off to the side. Today we celebrate the Memorial of Saint John Vianney. People were drawn to him not because of his own merit, but because of God who he was close to. The same goes for all the saints. We too receive this same invitation to allow the Lord to dwell in our midst and to be at the center of our life.
Through pride we push the Lord off. It is said that Saint John XXIII would end his day saying: “Well Lord, it’s your Church, you take care of it; I’m going to sleep.” These words are truly humble because they put everything into perspective. We too must come to this realization and allow ourself to be humbled in the Lord’s midst. Just because we pray does not mean that the path we must walk will be easy. We must learn to know and accept our limitations thus allowing the Lord to humble our heart with our realization of the help of others.
May we always come to practice the virtue of humility. May we especially come to humble ourself in the Lord’s presence by frequenting the sacrament of confession. It is here that we come a sinner into the Lord’s presence in order that we may be healed. From Luke’s Gospel we join with the tax collector who “stood at a distance. He would not even look up to Heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
