IF YOU WERE FEELING pretty good about yourself this week, then today’s readings were designed especially to give you a reality check.
“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor (Luke 14:8).”
“What is too sublime for you, seek not, into things beyond your strength search not.” (Sirach 3:22)
Today is God’s reminder to check your pride.
My prayer life often feels like a battle between extremes. One moment, I’m snuggling in the arms of Abba God, and the next, I’m cowering in awe at the feet of the Almighty Creator. True humility is recognizing that both postures are correct at the same time.
Humility is the virtue whereby we can see the true worth of ourselves, in relationship to God and others. It’s radical honesty about our own positions and abilities. As C.S. Lewis said so eloquently, humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.
So, if you’re an expert violinist, it would be false humility to try to claim that you’re no such thing (in fact, lying is against the Eighth Commandment). Instead, the virtuoso should direct all glory to God for giving him the talent to play the violin, the means to pursue the arts and the perseverance to develop his skills. “Yes, I am very skilled at the violin. All glory to God!”
Or, to put it in terms more of us might resonate with, “Yes, I have a great job that makes a comfortable amount of money. Praise God for taking care of my family!” That’s usually very easy to say when you first get the job. But wait a year or two, when you start to get comfortable with the income you’re making and the lifestyle it allows. It’s easy to start to see the way things are as the way things should be. You’re used to a certain lifestyle, so therefore you deserve what you have, and it would be wrong for someone to “take it away from you” or ask you to part with it. When in reality, everything we have is a free gift from God. But pride has a way of sneaking up on you.
That’s why we need these periodic reminders in the Scriptures to keep our vanities in check. Sirach tells us that humility will benefit us before both God and men.
“My child, conduct your affairs with humility, and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts. Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with God (Sirach 3:17-18).”
We’ve all dealt with braggarts and discovered how unpleasant it is when someone else can’t accept disappointment. But how quick are we to speak up in our own defense and fight for what’s “ours?”
As Jesus points out in his parable, if you place yourself at the bottom, there’s nowhere to go but up. The advice in today’s readings is very practical, not only for our daily lives here on earth, but for our eternal soul’s destiny.
“Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:3-4).”
The virtue of true humility recognizes the talents and aptitudes we have but gives all the glory to God. Take today’s readings to heart, and the next time you’re tempted to give yourself the glory for your own abilities, instead pray for the grace to say each day, “ad majorem Dei gloriam!” (For the greater glory of God!)