“Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but also for those of others.”

            Humility is powerful. We don’t think of it that way normally, but it is true. St. Vincent de Paul wrote, “The most powerful weapon to conquer the devil is humility, because as he does not know how to use it, neither does he know how to defend himself from it.” But for the world, humility is more a vice than a virtue – a sign of weakness. However, St. Augustine wrote that, “humility is the foundation of all the other virtues. Therefore, in the soul in which humility does not exist, there can be no other virtue.”

            What, then, is humility? The Catechism describes it as, “The virtue by which the Christian recognizes that God is the author of all good. Humility avoids disordered ambition and pride, and is fundamental for directing oneself towards God in prayer.”

            Humility consists in seeing yourself as God sees you. It doesn’t mean seeing yourself as a terrible person. It doesn’t mean thinking less of yourself – it means thinking of yourself less (C.S. Lewis). Humility is centered on the truth. The humble person is comfortable being herself, she recognizes herself as a child of God, and finds joy in that instead of seeking self-esteem in an exaggerated image of herself. In such a soul – which recognizes his greatness in being a child of God – humility is a hidden power that can transform the world around you.

            Humility, as we said, is thinking of yourself less. It means having a focus on others. The humble person is positive about others. The opposite of humility, of course, is pride. The prideful person is always negative about others. He doesn’t experience that confidence in being a child of God, and thinks that he needs to build himself up by tearing others down. The humble person points out and underlines others’ positive qualities without fear of what that will do to herself. She doesn’t have any problem giving others the chance to excel (and even creates situations in which they can do so) because she doesn’t feel the need to be better than others. She takes refuge in the truth of who she is before her Lord and Creator – that her dignity does not come from human achievements, but from being a beloved child of God.

            The humble person is not selfish. Selfishness takes many forms in human life, but it has been greatly exacerbated by our immoderate use of technology. Our screen devices give us the tendency always to be preoccupied by ourselves, to enclose ourselves in our own world, instead of focusing on others. The humble person recognizes that the person in front of him is more important than himself, and than whatever notifications are buzzing in his pocket.

            When we talk about this problem, there’s a tendency to think it’s a young people problem. Let’s be honest – it’s not. It’s a people problem, and we’re all dealing with it. A lot of young people are more aware of the problem and more likely to put up safeguards around it than their parents or grandparents!

            The problem, of course, isn’t just the devices themselves, but the selfishness inculcated by what those devices lead us to, especially in social media. Again, this is not just a young people problem. I’ve seen a lot of older people spending lots of time on social media! Ironically, social media ought to make us more focused on others, because it has the power to connect isolated people. However, the result is more often that we obsess over how we present ourselves to the world. We compare the real version of ourselves to the fake version of everyone else curated online. No wonder the more time we spend on social media, the more anxious and depressed we become.

            The humble person, though, is not concerned with curating and presenting the perfect version of himself. He recognizes the truth of who he is and doesn’t create an alternative identity – online or anywhere else. Knowing yourself according to the truth leads you to act naturally, without pretensions or hypocrisy before others, and to show them who you really are. If you have to pretend to be someone else for your friends, guess what? They’re not actually your friends.

            Being honest about yourself – being humble – also leads you to be more understanding of others, with their errors, limitations and sufferings, with empathy, mercy, and compassion. It makes it possible for you to think more of others than yourself. Researchers have conducted studies showing that people who spend less time on social media are more likely to act with empathy and compassion for others.

            The prideful and selfish person always talks about himself. If we don’t speak about anyone except ourselves, it’s a good sign that we don’t think about anyone except ourselves! The humble person directs the conversation towards others in a positive way. But the humble person does speak of herself to share how God is active in her life. She speaks of her experience of the love of God to help others discover how Christ loves and forgives them.

            Beyond focusing on others, the humble person is open to the ideas and opinions of others. I’m always impressed when young people have the humility to seek the counsel of their elders (although it’s taken some getting used to realizing that more and more of them see me as an older person!). Perhaps even more impressively humble is the attitude of older people who recognize the goodness and holy ambitions of the young. Young people are tired of hearing older people complain about them. The humble person seeks to listen, and in listening well, is often more listened to as well.

            Humility can also be compromised by rash judgement. When we form our opinions too quickly, we make ourselves the measure of truth and fall into pride. The humble person listens to others without forming a judgement or opinion immediately. Thus, she does not suffer from wounded pride or the resentments that harm our striving to be humble. We see an example of humility in the Gospel today in the son who recognizes his error in refusing obedience to his father, humbly changing course and going into the vineyard to work instead of stubbornly and pridefully persisting in his refusal.

            Christ has given us the greatest example of humility. He is the one who “emptied himself, taking the form of a slave,” and so gained for us the possibility of being raised, not by our own merits, but by His Blood, into the heavenly kingdom. Here on earth, He invites you to imitate His humility, a sacrificial humility that led Him to the saving Cross. We can grow in humility by not forming our opinions too quickly, by listening to people from other generations – older or younger – and by not being preoccupied by the image we present on social media, making the real people around us a greater priority. May the Lord give us the grace we need to grow in this essential virtue, and thus in our lives, show His humble face to the world.

The Rev. Royce V. Gregerson

Parish Church of Our Lady of Good Hope, Fort Wayne

XXVI Sunday through the Year, A.D. MMXXVI