Pride and Humility - a modern choice with ancient roots

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

God was drawn to Mary’s humility

Humility is essential to all the other virtues, St. Alphonsus teaches, and Mary had humility in perfection.

Humility is the foundation of all the virtues, as the holy Fathers of the Church have taught. Let’s consider, then, how great was the humility of the Mother of God. “Humility,” says St. Bernard, “is not only the foundation, but also the guardian of virtues.” He says this with good reason, for without it no other virtue can exist in a soul. Even if a soul has all the virtues, they all will depart when humility is gone. On the other hand, as St. Francis de Sales wrote to St. Jane de Chantal: “God so loves humility, that wherever he sees it, he is immediately drawn there.” This beautiful and so necessary virtue was unknown in the world. But the Son of God himself came to earth to teach humility by his own example. He willed that in this virtue in particular, we should endeavor to imitate him: “Learn from me, because I am meek and humble of heart” (see Mt 11:29). Mary, being the first and most perfect disciple of Jesus Christ in the practice of all virtues, was the first also in the virtue of humility. By it she merited to be exalted above all creatures. It was revealed to St. Matilda that the first virtue the Blessed Mother especially practiced, from her very childhood, was that of humility. —St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary

Thigpen, Paul. A Year with Mary: Daily Meditations on the Mother of God (p. 185). Saint Benedict Press. Kindle Edition.

'God resists the proud, but gives his grace to the humble'

Nov. 17, 2021

“God resists the proud”

A sure way to be humble is to contemplate how, even without talents, fame or fortune, we can be effective instruments if we go to the Holy Spirit so that He may grant us his gifts. The apostles, though they had been taught by Jesus for three years, fled in terror from the enemies of Christ. But after Pentecost they let themselves be flogged and imprisoned, and ended up giving their lives in witness to their faith. (Furrow, 283)

In his preaching, Our Lord Jesus Christ very often sets before our eyes the example of his own humility. 'Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart' [1], so that you and I may know that there is no other way, and that only our sincere recognition of our nothingness is powerful enough to draw divine grace towards us. St Augustine says: 'It was for us that Jesus came to suffer hunger and to be our food, to suffer thirst and to be our drink, to be clothed with our mortality and to clothe us with immortality, to be poor so as to make us rich' [2].

'God resists the proud, but gives his grace to the humble' [3], the apostle St Peter teaches. In any age, in any human setting, there is no other way, to live a godly life, than that of humility. Does this mean that God takes pleasure in our humiliation? Not at all. What would he, who created all things and governs them and maintains them in existence, gain from our prostration? God only wants us to be humble and to empty ourselves, so that he can fill us. He wants us not to put obstacles in his way so that — humanly speaking — there will be more room for his grace in our poor hearts. For the God who inspires us to be humble is the same God who 'will refashion the body of our lowliness, conforming it to the body of his glory, by exerting the power by which he is able also to subject all things to himself' [4]. Our Lord makes us his own, he makes us divine with a 'true godliness'. (Friends of God, 97-98)

[1] Matt 11:29

[2] St Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos, 49,19 (PL 36,577)

[3] 1 Pet 5:5

[4] Phil 3:21

https://opusdei.org/en/dailytext/god-resists-the-proud/

Wednesday, October 27, 2021

BEN SIRA 3

Humility*

17 My son, conduct your affairs with humility, and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts.

18 Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find mercy in the sight of God.

20 For great is the power of the Lord; by the humble he is glorified.

21 What is too sublime for you, do not seek; do not reach into things that are hidden from you.

22 What is committed to you, pay heed to; what is hidden is not your concern.

23 In matters that are beyond you do not meddle, when you have been shown more than you can understand.

24 Indeed, many are the conceits of human beings; evil imaginations lead them astray.

Bible: New American Bible, Revised Edition 2011 (Kindle Locations 32025-32032). . Kindle Edition.

Wednesday, October 13, 2021

all good comes to us through the infinite mercy of God

Meditation of the Day

"The true reason for which God bestows so many graces upon the humble is this, that the humble are faithful to these graces and make good use of them. They receive them from God and use them in a manner pleasing to God, giving all the glory to Him, without reserving any for themselves. ... It is certainly true that he who is humble is also faithful to God, because the humble man is also just in giving to all their due, and above all, in rendering to God the things that are God's; that is, in giving Him the glory for all the good that he is, all the good that he has and for all the good that he does; as the Venerable Bede says: 'Whatever good we see in ourselves, let us ascribe it to God and not to ourselves.' To give thanks to God for all the blessings we have received and are continually receiving is an excellent means of exercising humility, because by thanksgiving we learn to acknowledge the Supreme Giver of every good. And for this reason it is necessary for us always to be humble before God. St. Paul exhorts us to render thanks for all things and at all times: 'In all things give thanks.' (1 Thess. 5:18). 'Giving thanks always for all things.' (Eph. 5:20). But that our thanksgiving may be an act of humility it must not only come from the lips but from the heart, with a firm conviction that all good comes to us through the infinite mercy of God."

— Rev. Cajetan da Bergamo, p. 87-8