Feb 21 Sat
Is being humble the opposite of being natural?
“When we try to be humble, we feel God's power acting in us, based on our weakness; and we come to understand that we are never stronger than when we have only God to rely on. We also learn that age and experience alone are not a guarantee that we will get things right; otherwise, all elderly people would be geniuses. It is God who makes us more prudent than our teachers and wiser than the aged."
"Humble people realize that their lives are in the hands of God. And when they turn to God in prayer, they do so without pride, without putting on false airs, since they know that their mistakes and sins are not hidden from God's sight."
"Humility prevents us from becoming discouraged by our own faults. Our Father God knows what kind of clay we are made of. Our human weaknesses give our Father God a chance to shine forth and to show His almighty power by excusing and forgiving."
Humility makes us see things as they are and face ourselves in God's presence.
Humility doesn't stop us from aspiring to greatness, but it reminds us that we are merely instruments.
To be humble means being natural; it means being simple and straightforward in our dealings with God and with others. Since we live in the midst of the world, our humility must never be confused with timidity or a lack of self-confidence.
"It may be that an asceticism proper to religious orders could involve some rather eye-catching expressions of humility. But in the Work, the exact opposite is the case. As our sanctity hinges on our work, we need to build up professional expertise and respect, and each of us will acquire, in our own job and social sphere, the dignity and good name we deserve, gained through honest competition with our professional colleagues. Our humility doesn't entail being timid and shy, or lacking in daring in the field of noble human endeavor. With a desire to serve, we must strive to be among the best." (St. Josemaría)
"Some people without a genuine lay outlook on life understand humility as a lack of confidence, a kind of indecisiveness that stops them from taking action. They think it involves waiving their rights (sometimes even the rights of truth and justice) to avoid friction and disagreements, so that they can be nice to everyone. There will always be some who don't understand our way of practicing a deep—and genuine—humility; they may even call it pride. The Christian concept of this virtue has been severely deformed, possibly because the various forms of humility that people have attempted to transfer onto secular society are really more suited to convents than to Christians whose vocation requires them to be at the crossroads of the world."
Let us ask Mary to remove every trace of pride from our hearts so that every day we may become more closely identified with her Son.