When I was in college, a few months before I entered the seminary, I made a retreat with the Carmelite sisters in Los Angeles. During my visit, I had an opportunity to have a beautiful spiritual conversation with Sr. Angus Marie, a solemnly professed religious sister of over 50 years. In that conversation, Sr. Angus Marie and I discussed the importance of the virtue of humility in the Christian life. I'll never forget her words of wisdom. She said, "Humility... that's a tricky one. Just when you think you've got it, you just lost it!"

According to the lives and teachings of the saints, humility is the foundation and safeguard of all other virtues. Just as in the construction of a building, the basement comes before the walls and the pillars, and lays the foundation for the rest of the house, so too must humility come first as the foundation and support for the rest of the Christian life. St. Alphonus Liguori, an 18th century bishop, founder of the Redemptorist Religious Order, and moral doctor of the Church, explains that the virtue of humility is a twofold reality involving both the intellect and the will. In order to grow in this virtue, we must make advances on both fronts.

The first dimension - humility of the intellect - involves having a humble opinion of oneself. In order to grow in this virtue St. Alphonsus says that we must first come to the recognition and acceptance that everything in life is a gift from the Lord. Humility of the intellect comes from the disposition of gratitude, where man's mind seeks to praise and thank the Lord constantly. It flows from the truth that our entire life is received as a gift. We did not create ourselves, we only receive ourselves. At the same time, humility of the intellect is also the recognition that the only thing we can do by ourselves without the help of God - the only thing we can attribute to our own merits - is our sinfulness, the times when we choose to break God's covenant. St Alphonsus says, "The humble man ascribes nothing to himself but sin."

The second dimension - humility of the will - involves our choices. Man is not merely defined by what he things, he is also defined by what he does. Thus, humility must play out in our decisions. St. Alphonsus says that humility of the will is displayed in two ways: the choice to place the needs of others before our own, and the willingness to bear insults well, especially for the Lord. St. Alphonsus says, "The saints have not become saints in the midst of approval and applause; it was rather amid insults and contempt. The holy martyr Ignatius of Antioch, when bishop, enjoyed universal esteem and reverence; he was afterwards dragged to Rome, as a criminal, to be cast to the wild beasts. on the journey the guards loaded him with insults and outrages of all kinds. The saint cried out with joy: 'Now I begin to be a disciple of Christ.'"

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called by the Lord to follow the path of the saints and grow in both humility of the intellect and humility of the will. Both dimensions are essential. The person who has a humble opinion of himself, but is unable to bear insults well and place the needs of others before himself, has constructed a false perception of himself. He lives a delusion. The person who bears insults well and places the needs of others before himself, but does not have a humble opinion of himself, runs the risk of doing good deeds for his own glory and praise. He also lives a delusion.

What are some concrete things we can do (with the help of God) to avoid living a delusion and allow the Lord to build a solid foundation in us that will sustain the rest of our Christian lives? Following the advice of St. Alphonsus, lets look at just a few practical examples.

Concerning humility of the intellect, there are two key things we can do. First, we can seek to develop a disposition of gratitude by taking time each day to thank the Lord for His blessings. One practical way of doing this is to make sure that our litany of thanks and praise of the Lord is longer than our litany of petitions. Before asking God for something we can make a resolution to thank Him for two things in life we are grateful for. Second, we can take time everyday to do an examination of conscience where we acknowledge our sins and ask for God's mercy. Having our sins always before us is a powerful reminder of how much we need a Savior and how good our savior is to us, continuing to choose us even though we constantly fail.

Concerning humility of the will, there are also two key things we can do. First, we can seek to place the needs of others before ourselves. There are many great examples of how we can do this: in traffic, we can allow others to go ahead of us; in a conversation, we can allow others to speak before offering our own opinion; in meals, we can allow others to get their good before we do; in disagreements, we an seek to understand the position of others before expressing our frustrations. These are merely a few examples that help develop a disposition within us of allowing the need of others to be addressed before our own. Second, we can seek to grow in our ability to bear insults well. For every insult or injury to our egos that we sustain, we can go before the Lord in prayer and thank the Lord for them as gifts that unite us ore fully to His passion and death. We an meditate on the injuries and insults that our Lord experienced and discover how our insults and injures are a share in His.

When we grow in both humility of the intellect and humility of the will, we become powerful vessels in the hands of the Lord. As we decrease, He increases. If we seek to grow in this foundational virtue every day as directed by St. Alphonsus Liguori, we will not fall prey to the warning offered by St. Agnes Marie. We will never lose humility, because we will never think or act like we already have it.

Peace in Christ,
Fr. Will

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