22nd Sunday OT
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
OLR, NOLA
I
know a lot about humility. I know the definition of the word. I know
how to distinguish it from its many synonyms. And I know how to work
with it intellectually as a theological concept and virtue. In other
words, I can massage just about every aspect of humility into a
homily, a paper, a lecture, or a spiritual direction session. Good
for me! The hard question though is: am
I humble? Do I
actually exhibit the virtue of humility as a spiritual good for my
growth in holiness? If I say yes,
am I boasting? If I say no,
am I being falsely modest? Perhaps humility is a virtue best
practiced in secret. . .with great courage. St Thomas tells us that
humility “conveys the notion of a praiseworthy self-abasement to
the lowest place” (ST II-II.161.1.ad.2). St Gregory of Nyssa tells
us that “[t]he Word speaks of voluntary humility as 'poverty in
spirit'”(De
beatitudinibus 1).
And Our Lord implies that humility opposes self-exaltation, “For
every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles
himself will be exalted.” What humility is is
a reality check on
our self-appraisal, a speed-bump on our high-speed chase to
perfection: “Go and take the lowest place.”
Take
the lowest place. When St. Thomas tells us that humility “conveys
the notion of a praiseworthy self-abasement to the lowest place,”
he's being very careful to make some crucial distinctions. Probably
the most important one: the distinction btw self-abasement
and praiseworthy
self-abasement.
Humility is not about self-abasement, a groveling, hatred of the self
that leaves you debased and cringing. Humility is about abasing
oneself in a praiseworthy
manner. Simply put,
praiseworthy self-abasement is nothing more than the recognition and
acceptance of one's Christian reality: I am both a sinner and a
redeemed child of God. I am capable of both great holiness and great
evil. I am unworthy of heaven but made worthy in Christ Jesus.
Recognizing and accepting this reality – the both/and of being a
sinner made worthy – is what it is to abase myself in a
praiseworthy manner. I cannot deceive myself into thinking that I am
already a saint. Nor can I deceive myself into thinking that I am an
unholy worm deserving death. The reality is much more complicated and
much more difficult than those easy extremes. The truth is: we
are being perfected.
Not yet there but on our way. And while on our way, we recognize and
accept that our failures and flaws prevent us from raising ourselves
above our brothers and sisters.
Jesus'
parable of the banquet gives us a window into this thinking about the
proper place of humility in the kingdom. Notice in the parable that
we are not always relegated to the lowest position. The host might ask us
to move up to a higher position. But we can only be moved up if we
have first chosen a lower position for ourselves. When we presume –
in our pride – to take the highest place, the only direction for us
to move when ordered to do so is down. Rather than humble ourselves
by recognizing and accepting our unworthiness for the honor, we
instead jump pridefully to the place of honor and find ourselves
humbled by the host. At the core of this parable is the authority of
the Host. He determines who sits where in the order of honor not
the guests. If the wedding banquet in the parable is heaven in
reality, then it is God Who decides who sits in the places of honor.
. .not His guests at the table. If you exalt yourself now, you will
be humbled later. However, if you humble yourself now, you will be
exalted in heaven.
So,
how do we humble ourselves now? Jesus gives us a clue in the parable:
“. . .when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the
lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their
inability to repay you.” In other words, doing something good for
someone who can repay you is less humbling than doing something good
for those who can never repay you. Spending your wealth – time,
talent, and treasure – freely on those who cannot repay you is the
sort of sacrifice that leads to greater humility. Wanting to be “paid
back” indicates that you believe that what you have given is truly
yours. And that you want your depleted wealth restored. However,
spending wealth on those who cannot repay you indicates that you know
that all that you have truly belongs to God and that you are merely
the steward of His wealth. The sacrifice is not in the “giving
over” but in the recognition and acceptance that you are steward of
God's wealth not the true owner of the wealth. That sacrifice helps
perfect your humility and draws you closer to God. You pull more
deeply on the truth that saves: I
am wholly dependent on God for everything I have and for everything I
am. I
am but His instrument.
We
could spend hours going over the many ways that we are encouraged by
the powers of this world to exalt ourselves above others: class,
race, education, martial status, parenthood, economic status, etc.
The ways we have of degrading others for our own exaltation are as
numerous as the fallen angels. And just as evil. There is but one way
to fight and defeat the temptations of self-exaltation: embrace
the humility of Christ on the Cross.
Scripture tells us that the Son of God emptied himself out to become
one of us so that he could die as one of us on the Cross. Theologians
sometimes refer to this emptying out as the Son of God
“condescending” to become like us. We could just as easily say
that he “humbled himself” in order to make our own humility
possible. How do we make use of the humility he made possible? We
receive into our own hearts and minds his motivation for humbling
himself – he
loved us as his own and died for us so that we might live.
That's sacrificial love. Love that sacrifices self for another. And
there is no greater humility to be found. When the powers of this
world tempt us to exalt ourselves at the expense of our rich/poor,
black/white, Republican/Democrat, educated/uneducated neighbors,
bring to your heart and mind the image of Christ on his Cross.
Remember that he – the Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed
Trinity – humbled himself to become one of us and to die as one of
us so that we might live. That WE – all of us – might live.
It is Devil's work to divide us
into rich and poor, white and black, upper and lower classes. It's
Christ's work to save us all in his one act of sacrificial love on
the Cross. And it's our work to be his instruments in this fallen
world. Give when you cannot be repaid. Choose the lowest place.
Follow HancAquam or Subscribe ----->
No comments:
Post a Comment