9781644135945

The Light of the World
Despite the fact that they solemnly renounced the world when they received the Holy Ghost, they
long for praise and favors from men in high positions, and they like to be honored by the world.
We, too, are often servile in our attitude towards the powerful ones of this world; we fail utterly
to understand the need for Christian humility; we are entirely lacking in the spirit of Christ and
His Church. No wonder, then, that Christian life suffers so greatly, that we deny our Christian
ideals and principles so easily, that we sacrifice our convictions for philosophical novelties.
Humility is the spirit of Christ. “Learn of Me,” He tells us, “because I am meek and humble
of heart” (Mt 11:29). We need not work miracles or create new worlds; we need not raise the
dead to life. But one thing is necessary: to be humble of heart. Pride is such a devastating poison
that it can be counteracted only by a very strong antidote. The remedy our Lord offers is the
most powerful that could ever be: the deepest humiliation of the Son of God. Entering into this
world, Christ chose submission, poverty, humiliation, and finally the most disgraceful death
on the cross. We see Him rejected by men, condemned to die as a criminal on the cross. Such
is the humility of Jesus. Humility is the beginning and end of all He does for our salvation, the
very essence of what He has taught us in word and deed.
Humility is the most characteristic virtue of Jesus. Therefore humility is also the first virtue
of Christ’s mystical body, the Church, and of every true Christian who is a member of this body.
It is the only foundation on which virtues can safely be built; it is the root and the beginning
of salvation and all good. The growth of virtue and grace depends on the progress of humility.
The entire structure of the life of grace rests on the two fundamental pillars of the power of
Christ’s cross and the working of the Holy Ghost; but only he whose spiritual life is founded
in humility will be able to carry the burden of Christ’s cross and live a Christian life. The Holy
Ghost, on the other hand, will never dwell in a soul that is not humble. This humility is the
foundation upon which the Christian supernatural life must rest. A humble submission to God’s
will and the acknowledgment of our nothingness before Him remove the obstacles which a
heart corrupted by pride puts in the way of faith, hope, and charity. “Learn of Me, because I
am meek and humble of heart.”
We are branches of Christ, the vine. With St. Paul we say: “I can do all things in Him who
strengtheneth me” (Phil 4:13). Of ourselves we are nothing, but we are strong in Him.
Whatever supernatural good we possess comes to us from without, from Christ, who is the
vine, the head. “Of His fullness we all have received, and grace for grace” ( Jn 1:16). Whatever
we are and whatever we have, we are and have only because we are branches of Christ, the vine,
members of His mystical body. To Him, therefore, we owe all honor and glory. As far as we
are concerned, we can please ourselves only in our infirmities. “Gladly, therefore, will I glory
in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. For which cause I please myself in
my infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ. For when
I am weak, then I am powerful” (2 Cor 12:9 f.).
Prayer
O God, who resisteth the proud and granteth Thy grace to the humble of heart, grant, we
beseech Thee, the virtue of true humility, the model of which Thy only-begotten Son hath
deigned to be before our eyes. Never permit us to invite Thy anger through our pride, but
may we receive the mercy of Thy grace through obedience. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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