Homily 26 December 2004 By Fr. Hathaway FSSP Mater Dei Latin Mass Community
Sunday within the Octave of Christmas
On Love is not Boastful
We return now to the signs of divine love working in the
soul.We resume with St. Paul’s phrase, “Love is not boastful” which St. Alphonsus
Ligouri
(The Practice of the Love of Jesus Christ) explains, “Those who love
Jesus
Christ are not vain about their own self worth, but humble themselves,
and are
glad to be humbled by others.”
St. Alphonsus (declared Doctor of Moral Theology i.e., he
knows what he is talking about) says, the proud man is like a balloon
filled up
with air.The balloon seems great to
itself but as its greatness is all air so when it is popped, and the
air
escapes, no value remains. In
contrast,
those who love God are not puffed up about themselves; they know God is
the
source of their greatness; they know that of themselves they have only
air
i.e., nothingness and sin.
Indeed, St. Alphonsus says those who are truly humble know
they are simply unworthy of divine favors and when they receive them
become eager
to humble themselves the more.
And so we have the secret to being humble: we must
acknowledge and recall our lowliness.St. Alphonsus says that when God multiplies his favors so we
must
multiply our humility.After receiving a
special grace, St. Teresa of Avila
would
recall all her past ingratitude so that she would not think too highly
of herself.
St. Margaret of Cortona was the same way.One
day, our blessed Lord visited her with a
great consolation.She said to Him, “What
is this? Hast Thou forgotten what I was?How is it that Thou repay my insults with such delicate
attention?”Our Blessed Savior told
her, “My daughter,
when a soul loves Me and repents of all her past offenses I remember
them no
more.”
This also the prophet Ezekiel reported, “If the wicked turn
from all their sin… none of their offenses shall be remembered.”(Ez 18:21)
The humble know their lowliness and wish to be placed last
of all.St. Teresa often quipped, “Don’t
think that you have made progress in perfection until you consider
yourself the
worst of all and unless you desire to be placed last.”Such is the saint’s desire and sincere
conviction.
When Ven. Fr. John of Avila
lay dying on his death bed a priest friend spoke many consoling words
to
him.Fr. Avila, however, finally
interrupted
him saying, “My dear Father, please pray for my soul as one who is
going to the
gallows; for that is what I deserve.”So
the saints, St. Alphonsus relates, think from life to death.He says further that we must pattern
ourselves after them if we wish to be saved and remain in God’s grace
until
death… “putting all trust in God.”
St. Alphonsus says, however, that humility is more than
having a lowly opinion of self and thinking upon our wretchedness.Following Thomas a Kempis, St. Alphonsus says
the truly humble man wishes also to be looked down upon by others.
He says that those who call themselves the greatest sinners
in the world and then get angry when their neighbor insults them
clearly have humility
only on their tongue, not in their heart.St. Thomas Aquinas says the person who resents being slighted is
a long
way from perfection… even though he should work miracles.
St. Alphonsus recounts that the blessed Mother once sent St.
Ignatius Loyola to instruct St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi. His first
lesson began:
“Humility is the enjoyment of whatever leads us to despise ourselves.”It is hard to enjoy being humbled; but St.
Alphonsus says we must at least enjoy them in the spirit… if not in the
flesh.
Nor let us forget that humility is the image of the Crucified.St.
Alphonsus says our Savior loved to be scorned if only to more clearly
reveal
His great love for us.This Blessed
Savior wants His crucified image, an image of agony and shame, over our
altars
- not an image of His glory - so that we might always have the image of
humility
before us and a pattern to follow.
Thus the saints desired suffering as a joy; St.
John of the Cross sums it, “Lord, to suffer and
to be
despised for Thee.”
And being despised is the true test of humility.St.
Francis de Sales says true humility and
solid virtue are proved in the furnace of infamy.
The Imitation of Christ states that having a horror of
humiliation is a sign that one is not dead to the world, that
one’s humility is false, and that God is
not kept enough in mind.
But my Savior has endured so much for me; blows, spit, false
accusations, taunts, blasphemous words, stripping of garments and
nails; shall
not I endure a few ill words?
St. Alphonsus finds it surprising - even scandalous - that
any frequent communicant would resent every scornful word directed his
way.He says the good of the Church is
advanced when scornful words are answered gently to appease the
offender; or when
the offender is not answered but simply left with a placid expression,
void of
any bitterness or rage.
Considering more advanced perfection, St. Jane de Chantal
used to say, when a truly humble soul is humiliated, she humbles
themself
more.Why?Because
she know she deserve more.
Finally, corrections by others are the best way to advance
in humility.When humble people are
corrected they grieve for their error.In contrast, proud people grieve too; but they grieve because
their
fault has been discovered.These become
troubled and seek to ruin their corrector.
False accusations are a further test in humility.St.
Philip Neri says he who really desires
sainthood will never excuse himself even if the accusation be false.The one exception to this rule, says St.
Alphonsus, is when self-defense is necessary to avoid scandal.
St. Alphonsus says great rewards are laid up for those who
suffer false accusations patiently.These show a holy disdain for human opinion and great love of
God’s
opinion.We read of these humble men is
St. Matthew’s gospel, “Blessed are you when men revile you… speak all
that is
evil against you, untruly, for My sake… for your reward is very great
in
heaven.”(Mt 5:11)
The next sign of divine love working in the soul is, “love is
not arrogant” which St. Alphonsus explains, “Those who love Jesus
Christ aspire
to nothing but Jesus Christ.”This will
be our topic next time.