Grace and Humility

Our parable in this Sunday’s Gospel reading (Luke 18:9-14) is a very familiar story. St. Luke tells us, “Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else" (Luke 18:1).

The word used for ‘convinced’ means to believe in something to the extent of placing reliance or trust on it. In this case, Jesus addresses religious people who are not trusting in God, but in themselves or their own righteousness.

This misplaced trust leads to negative behaviors. They “despised everyone else” (Luke 18:1). Despising others means to regard others as being below you and therefore worthy of maltreatment or contempt. Contempt is very corrosive in human relationships, and is damaging both to others and to our soul. Quoting St. Augustine, the Catechism reminds us, “Sin is thus ‘love of oneself even to contempt of God.’” (CCC 1850).

Jesus’ parable introduces a contrast between a certain Pharisee and a tax collector. One of the reasons we do “not to judge others” is that we do not know their hearts. Yet it is difficult to hear the words of the Pharisee in this parable without seeing his heart. He prays, “O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity” He lists their sins and then looks down on the tax collector. The Pharisee clearly trusts in his own righteousness and regards the tax collector with contempt (Luke 18:1).

By way of contrast, the tax collector “stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, 'O God, be merciful to me a sinner' (Luke 18:13). Jesus tells us the tax collector went home justified and not the Pharisee, “for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 18:13).

Jesus’ parable highlights the fundamental importance of the virtue of humility for our relationship with God and ultimately for our very salvation. This is because we must exercise what the Bible calls “the obedience of faith” to enter into a relationship with God. The proper response of man to God’s revelation, aided by the interior movement of the Spirit, is obedience of faith (Romans 1:5; 6:17, 16:25–26, Acts 6:7).

The fathers of Second Vatican Council describe this obedience as “a commitment by which we offer the whole self freely to God, and by which we offer the full submission of intellect and will to God who reveals” (Dei Verbum, 5). Submitting ourselves to God requires humility.

Unfortunately, some religious people understand their faith as a kind of ‘scorecard’ or heavenly ‘report card’. They list off all the good things they have done, and have confidence in these good works rather than in God. They are not trying to show their love and gratitude to God through their good works, but to manipulate or bargain with God to force his favor towards them.

They fail to acknowledge that the source of all our excellence and glory is God. We have received everything as a gift, even life itself. The essence of true humility is docility and the subjection of our will to divine Providence. It fundamentally involves a type of self-knowledge. As St. Paul says, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God which is with me” (RSVCE, 1 Corinthians 15:10). St. Paul acknowledges that everything he is comes from God’s grace.

We are each saved, not by bargaining with God through our works (Ephesians 2:8-9), but by the grace and mercy of God. The tax collector, is aware of his shortcomings, and yet prays, 'O God, be merciful to me a sinner' (Luke 18:13). Jesus tells us that he is the one who receives salvation.

Trusting in our own righteousness is the sin of presumption against the virtue of hope. The person who commits this sin “presumes upon his own capacities, (hoping to be able to save himself without help from on high)” (CCC 2092).

If you are like me, I think you would assume that you are not like the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable. After all, I do not come to church and publically boast about my righteousness in my prayers and treat others with open contempt.

Yet, could we still be subtly embracing these attitudes?

Many Catholics, when asked, “If you died and came to the gates of heaven and they asked you why you should get in?” would answer, “Because I think I am a pretty good person.” On the surface, by the way, this is an alarmingly bad answer! To be charitable, perhaps they have in mind the evidence of the fruit of God’s grace in their life. Perhaps they mean, “I am still in a state of grace, and the fruit of my life demonstrates this.”

Yet, could we still be subtly trusting in our own righteousness? We should choose to live a good life in gratitude and out of love for God. Yet we each receive forgiveness through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Receiving this forgiveness, however, implies I have cooperated with the graces of my Baptism by submitting my heart, indeed my entire life to God, and that I am actively striving to live in an ongoing relationship with him. This is what it means to have the fruit of God’s grace in our life. This grace begins with humility!

As we contemplate these truths anew, let us pray with St. Augustine,

Let me know you, O you who know me;

then shall I know even as I am known.

You are the strength of my soul;

make your way in and shape it to yourself,

that it may be yours to have and to hold,

free from stain or wrinkle”

(St. Augustine, Confessions 10.1.1)[i]

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[i] Saint Augustine, The Confessions, Part I, ed. John E. Rotelle, trans. Maria Boulding, Second Edition, vol. 1, The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century (Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2012), 237.

For Every One Who Exalts Himself Will Be Humbled

In our Gospel (Luke 14:1, 7-14) Jesus attends meal at the “home of one of the leading Pharisees.” We are told that Jesus was “observing him carefully.” Jesus tells this parable because he noticed “how they were choosing the places of honor at the table.”

In Jewish culture a high value was placed on notions of honor and shame. At the time of Jesus, it seems social dignity was not based one’s age, but one’s social standing. Those with the highest social standing would be seated nearest to the host. The parable assumes a certain freedom to choose a seat. Those of higher social standing would think it was their right to sit near the host. This choice reveals something about the heart of the one making this choice. Those who seated themselves closer to the host reveal a desire to exalt themselves and to be noticed by others. Such behavior is not consistent with the values of the kingdom. Instead, in imitation of our Lord we should desire to be a servant and to take the lowest place.

As Jesus will say later in the Gospel,

“For which is the greater, one who sits at table, or one who serves? Is it not the one who sits at table? But I am among you as one who serves” (Luke 22:27).

Jesus summarizes, “For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Lk 14:11).

Like many other passages of scripture, this parable promotes the virtue of humility or restraining ourselves from aiming at great things against the workings of right reason.

In a culture which glorifies self-esteem, and a world which lauds those who pursue the dream of fame, power and financial gain, is it reasonable to consider yourself lowly and worthless?  Or even further to live your life in a way which refrains from things which are exalted, from ambition, and from the desire for a high position in the world?

At the very least such a life is very counterintuitive. We might add to this the fear that a life of humility will not lead to happiness. Yet, how many of us have met people who have achieved fame and riches, who in modern parlance are “living the life,” yet we are quick to recognize they are also the unhappiest people we have ever met?

A virtue is a disposition to act a certain way. For Christians, the cardinal virtues of temperance, justice, prudence, and fortitude are enlivened by the supernatural virtues of faith, hope and charity. The virtue of humility is a kind of helping virtue related to hope.

The basic idea of humility would seem to be to view yourself as lowly and worthless. This can occur involuntarily when one is cast down or demoted by another, as a punishment. This occurs in Jesus’ parable when the presumptuous person is moved to a lower place. The virtue of humility can also be a voluntary act. We can reflect on our own failings, and assume the lowest place in response. St. Thomas gives the basic definition for the virtue of humility, as conveying the notion of a praiseworthy self-abasement to the lowest place.” (STh., II-II q.161 a.1 ad 2).

Humility moderates the actions of our passions or emotional desires in relation to the good. We can experience both things which are attractive to our appetite causing us to hope, and things which repel our passions because of the difficulty in obtaining them, which may cause despair. (STh., II-II q. 161).

There are actually two virtues at work in relation to our desire for the good: humility and magnanimity.

St. Thomas notes, “Humility restrains the appetite from aiming at great things against right reason: while magnanimity urges the mind to great things in accord with right reason.” Humility is a moderating and restraining moral virtue, while magnanimity is moral virtue which strengthens it and urges it on.

Yet how do we know if we are thinking rightly about these things? What constitutes the use of  “right reason”? Does the requirement of humility to view yourself as lowly and worthless, cause us to abandon our intuitions toward a healthy self-esteem.

The correct use of this virtue would not be to imitate a garden worm crawling in the dirt! St. Teresa in her, Interior Castle, describes us as miserable worms^[i] who are clearly unworthy of the greatness God has bestowed upon us. She has in mind, however, caterpillars who later transform into butterflies! Yes, we remain unworthy.  Even though we truly are unworthy, we are also children of God who receive his gifts. Both of these are true at the same time.

St. Thomas urges us to use reason to consider all of our strengths and weaknesses and to consider their true origin. We can observes what God has given us, and what we have contributed. (Summa Theol., II-II, q. 161, a. 8, corp.)

On God’s side of the equation are our creation as rational beings, our supernaturalization by grace, and our redemption, but unfortunately on our side is only our sin and deficiencies. The source of all our excellence and glory is God. The truth is, if we are stripped of God’s divine plumage, what is left? We have received everything as a gift, even life itself.

How should we respond to this?

First we need to acknowledge that this is true, and then we need to employ this truth as a practical principle in daily life. We must be willing to remain in the place God has allotted to us in his divine providence, and then to diligently make use of the talents God has bestowed upon us. Notice that the adverb humbly could be added to these actions. To humbly acknowledge, to humbly employ…

The essence of true humility is docility and the subjection of our will to divine Providence. It fundamentally involves a type of self-knowledge, concerning who we are, and the source of all our goodness. St. Josemaría Escrivá notes, “Self-knowledge leads us by the hand, as it were, to humility.” (The Way, 60). Humility restrains our soul from either exceeding or falling below the measure of natural and supernatural gifts which God has bestowed upon us.

Humility is the moderate and reasonable seeking of one's own excellence. It would be false humility to not acknowledge the gifts and talents God has given us. While we must truthfully acknowledge our natural and supernatural strengths, we also remain aware that we will always remain unworthy and that God is the source of all our goodness.

This leads to a full definition; “Humility is the moral virtue by which a person, considering his deficiency, holds himself to what is low according to his measure, out of subjection to God.”^[v]

It is fairly easy to see how the process of gaining humility leads to an awareness of personal sin (CCC 1848) brought about through the prior work of the Holy Spirit (John Paul II, DeV 31 § 2) and a new saving awareness of the gift of redemption that God has offered us. In fact this is a prerequisite for conversion. In the National Directory of Catechesis our bishops note that conversion is,

“the acceptance of a personal relationship with Christ, a sincere adherence to him, and a willingness to conform one's life to his. Conversion to Christ involves making a genuine commitment to him and a personal decision to follow him as his disciple” (NDC, p. 46).

Clearly conversion is most fundamentally about the subjection of our heart, our desires and our will to God. It is a new awareness and reverence for God in our life. It is a genuine commitment to God and a personal decision to follow Jesus as his disciple. It leads to friendship with God.

It is these notions of subjection to God and reverence for God which leads many saints to see the virtue of humility as the gateway, along with detachment from earthly things, to the interior life.

St. Teresa calls humility the ointment of our souls,

“But as we have not yet arrived at this point, let us (as I said) acquire humility, sisters, for this is the ointment of our souls; and if we possess this virtue, the physician, who is God, will come and heal us, though he may delay a little.”^[vi]

St. Teresa notes that we cannot advance in the interior life without humility.  “Humility is that virtue by which our Lord suffers Himself to be overcome, and to grant us whatever we desire of Him. The first mark by which you may discover whether you possess this virtue is, to think yourselves unworthy of these favors and delights from our Lord…”^[vii]

Humility does not come to us in a vacuum. The journey begins with a relationship with God. We cannot advance without spending time with him. There is a kind of prior assumption to all the literature on growth in the interior life. Whether they are the Desert Fathers, or the early Franciscans, or the monks at the Abbey of St. Victor, it was taken for granted that time was being spent in personal prayer and meditation on the Sacred Scripture. This was for the novice. It was the beginning.

If humility is the pearl of great price, the one thing we need more than all else in our walk with the Lord, then each one of us should examine our hearts. I don’t know about you but as I look within my own soul, I have a long journey ahead. 

Recently the Church canonized, St. Josemaría Escrivá. During his lifetime he wrote a very powerful Examination of Conscience for Humility which is worth praying through.   

An Examination of Conscience for Humility

St. Josemaría Escrivá, The Furrow, 609

Allow me to remind you that among other evident signs of a lack of humility are:
—Thinking that what you do or say is better than what others do or say;
—Always wanting to get your own way;
—Arguing when you are not right or — when you are — insisting stubbornly or with bad manners;
—Giving your opinion without being asked for it, when charity does not demand you to do so;
—Despising the point of view of others;
—Not being aware that all the gifts and qualities you have are on loan;
—Not acknowledging that you are unworthy of all honor or esteem, even the ground you are treading on or the things you own;
—Mentioning yourself as an example in conversation;
—Speaking badly about yourself, so that they may form a good opinion of you, or contradict you;
—Making excuses when rebuked;
—Hiding some humiliating faults from your director, so that he may not lose the good opinion he has of you;
—Hearing praise with satisfaction, or being glad that others have spoken well of you;
—Being hurt that others are held in greater esteem than you;
—Refusing to carry out menial tasks;
—Seeking or wanting to be singled out;
—Letting drop words of self-praise in conversation, or words that might show your honesty, your wit or skill, your professional prestige...;
—Being ashamed of not having certain possessions...

 

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^[i] Saint Teresa of Ávila and John Dalton, The Interior Castle (London: T. Jones, 1852), 3, 118, 120.

^[ii] Fr. Sebastian Carlson, OP, “The Virtue of Humility” The Thomist, April, 1944 Vol. VII, No.2, p. 137.

^[iii] Ibid., p. 140.

^[iv] Ibid., p. 150

^[v] Idid., p 152.

^[vi] Saint Teresa of Ávila and John Dalton, The Interior Castle (London: T. Jones, 1852), p. 35.

^[vii] Ibid., p. 36.

  

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