Humility: What is it anyway?

Take up my yoke upon you, and learn of me, because I am meek, and humble of heart: and you shall find rest for your souls. (Matt. 11:29.)

People, even those who are pious and devout, tend to concentrate on externals, and that which is easily defined and understood. Regarding sin and virtue, we often are mindful of more cut and dry obligations while ignoring the more internal, hard-to-define sins. One may be very strict regarding observance of the Sabbath, while at the very same engaging in far more subtle sins offending against charity and humility with scarcely a thought. If we miss Mass, offend against purity or cheated on taxes, we generally know when we have crossed the line and sinned, or if we have been virtuous and resisted temptation. But how about humility? How can we ever be sure that we have been humble? What is humility in practical terms?

How important is this elusive virtue of humility? Many saints tell us that it is the cornerstone of any spiritual life. They tell us it is the portal to all other virtues and we cannot go to heaven without it.

Whatever humility is, we need it!

IN Paradise there are many Saints who never gave alms on earth: their poverty justified them. There are many Saints who never mortified their bodies by fasting, or wearing hair shirts: their bodily infirmities excused them. There are many Saints too who were not virgins: their vocation was otherwise. But in Paradise there is no Saint who was not humble.

1. God banished Angels from Heaven for their pride; therefore how can we pretend to enter therein, if we do not keep ourselves in a state of humility? Without humility, says St. Peter Damian, [Serm. 45] not even the Virgin Mary herself with her incomparable virginity could have entered into the glory of Christ, and we ought to be convinced of this truth that, though destitute of some of the other virtues, we may yet be saved, but never without humility. There are people who flatter themselves that they have done much by preserving unsullied chastity, and truly chastity is a beautiful adornment; but as the angelic St. Thomas says: "Speaking absolutely, humility excels virginity." [4 dist. qu. xxxiii, art. 3 ad 6; et 22, qu. clxi, art. 5] (Humility of Heart Thoughts and Sentiments on Humility Part 1, Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo, reprinted by Tan Books and Publishers, Charlotte, NC.)

St. Augustine says: "No one can deny this truth, that humility is essential to all those who wish to be saved. "No one reaches the kingdom of Heaven except by humility." [Lib. de Salut. cap. xxxii]

So we see that to reach Heaven one must be humble. The vice opposing humility - pride - was the sin that turned those beautiful angels into devils. What an enormous sin pride is! Fr. Cajetan presents a sobering thought: even those who have maintained purity are in danger of flattering themselves and offending against humility. Even the great St. Therese of Liseux realized how truly grounded we must be to attain humility and how susceptible we are to the sin of pride:

Yet, Lord, you know my weakness. Each morning I take up my resolution to practice humility and, by evening, I realise I have still committed many failings of pride.

Seeing this, I am tempted to discouragement.

However, as I well know, discouragement is also an act of pride! And so, O my God, what I want to do is to base all my hope on you alone. You can do all things, so be pleased to bring to birth in my soul the virtue I am looking for. And to obtain this grace from your infinite mercy, I will say repeatedly: «O Jesus, meek and humble of heart: make my heart gentle and humble as yours! - St. Therese of Liseux »

Humility, what is it, anyway?

And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled: and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted (Matt. 23:12.)

We are not doing wrong or being prideful by seeking excellence. However, we must do it God's way and not our own. The one who exalts himself shall be humbled. Our strength is not in ourselves. We may "fly high" for a short time, but ultimately if we rely on our own devices, we shall fail, even if it seems to the world that we succeed. However, if we seek excellence by the power of God, we shall be successful, even though it seems to the world that we fail. It is foolish to confide solely in our own powers, but we may reach for even greater things than we could imagine by trusting in the power of God.

Jesus Christ exhorts us toward humility because humility orders our priorities correctly. Humility removes the obstacle to spiritual growth because when man relies on God, man will have as his main goal spiritual and eternal things. The worldly man eventually is weighed down to the earth because he tends to concentrate all, or the greater part of his efforts to becoming great in worldly things, disregarding the eternal. The person who relies on God is blessed; as he looks upward, he is lifted up to consider heavenly, eternal things. Humility is not the greatest virtue, per se, but it opens the door and makes the other virtues, including Faith, Hope and Charity possible. Humility is that narrow gate by which we are to gain virtue and gain eternal life.

Humility makes it possible, for by humility we learn to rely on God. We do what is necessary, seeking supernatural help to love Him more deeply and love our neighbor who we often find unlovable. Humility causes us to realize that we must cry out to God, beg God, pray night and day for that which will draw us to Him. Without Him, as Jesus tells us, we can do nothing. (John 15:5). WITH Jesus though, we can do all things. As St. Paul says, "I can do all things in Christ Who strengthens me." (Philip. 4:13.) And again: "'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.' Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me." (2 Cor. 12:9). So the true path to success is by having great confidence in the power of God to strengthen our actions, rather than to rely solely on our own devices.

How do we practice humility? First of all, we must examine and consider two things: [1] who we are; and [2] who God is. If we do this regularly, practicing humility will become much easier. "Great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised." (Ps. 47:1) On the other hand, as David the psalmist says after a self-examination:

Wash me from my iniquity, and cleanse me of my sin.
For I acknowledge my iniquity, and my sin is always before me.
Against Thee alone have I sinned and done evil in Thy sight;
For behold, I was conceived in sin, and in sin my mother conceived me;
For behold, Thou hast loved truth, and the uncertain and hidden things of Thy wisdom Thou hast shown me. (Ps. 50:4-8).

This is the truth: that we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But as David further prays to the Lord, there is joy is acknowledging our sinfulness:

"Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed. Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow. Thou shalt make me hear of joy and gladness, and the bones Thou hath crushed shall rejoice. (Ps. 50:9-10.)

We have barely scratched the surface, but we have made a start. Let us study the saints: they are our models of humility. Let us apply ourselves to its practice and pray to the Lord for understanding. We can spend a lifetime in the school of humility and still have much to learn. Let us remember every day what we are ... and Who God is. We are wonderful creatures, but we attain our potential by considering our lowliness, trusting in God, and then we may reach for the heavens: for he who humbles himself shall be exalted.