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Twelfth Friday after Pentecost
- caelidomum
- Sep 4
- 4 min read
Updated: Sep 6
Twelfth Friday after Pentecost. Seventeenth Reason for Being very Humble.
Summary of the Morrow’s Meditation.
We will meditate to-morrow upon a seventeenth reason for being very humble; it is: 1st, that self- love is a wall of separation between God and us; 2d, that self-love is incompatible with virtue. We will then make the resolution: 1st, to prefer always that which causes us to be hidden rather than that which places us in evidence, that which humbles us rather than that which raises us; 2d. to avoid as much as possible opportunities for showing ourselves off and attracting observation. Our spiritual nosegay shall be the words of the Apostle: “Let us not be made desirous of vain glory” (Gal. v. 26).
Meditation for the Morning.
Let us adore Our Lord Jesus Christ suffering throughout the whole of His apostolic life all the blame cast upon Him. Some indeed said, “He is a prophet; He is the Christ,” but others added, “No, He is not, He is a deceiver, He is a man who loves pleasure, wine, and good eating; He is a Samaritan, a heretic, an impious man, an enemy of the temple and of the holy nation. If He delivers the possessed, it is in the name of Beelzebub. He is Himself possessed. Can any good thing come out of Nazareth ? Of a truth this man cometh not from God, for He does not observe the Sabbath.” And in the midst of all these speeches Jesus is silent. He accepts the humiliation and offers it to His Father in expiation of the susceptibilities of our self-love. Let us admire, thank, imitate Him.
Self-love is a Wall of Separation between God and Ourselves.
1st. It is a fact confirmed by experience that inasmuch as humiliations borne in a Christian manner bring God near to us and unite us with Him, so the complaisance which the heart feels in esteem and praise, the vexation which contempt and blame inflict upon it, removes God from us and separates us from Him. The reason is, that the esteem in which we take pleasure develops in us pride, which God detests; while contempt rightly borne develops in us humility, which God cherishes. 2d. Self-love distracts us from God. It suffices that the soul, which at first proposed to itself God alone and desired nothing but His good pleasure, begins to think that it is looked at, that it is praised and admired; at that moment it is turned away from God, stopped in its progress, and inclined to act only from vain glory. All kinds of praise or marks of esteem, unless they are disavowed by a frank humility, dissipate, preoccupy, and seduce the heart, dazzle it and charm it. It is a kind of enchantment which pursues us in our prayers, our acts, and our intentions, separates us from God and makes us forget heaven. It is what made an author say, “I mistrust a virtue exposed to too great a number of spectators; the least look cast upon it may inflict a mortal wound;” and it is this which has made so many saints love a hidden life. Have we hitherto considered this danger and do we distrust it ?
Self-love is not Compatible with any Kind of Virtue.
What virtue, in fact, could harmonize with self-love ? Could it be faith ? But faith desires that we should look upon our own minds as ignorant and not able to comprehend anything- in the supernatural order, which cannot without temerity examine into subjects beyond its own level, which consequently ought, with the simplicity of a child, without discussion or examination, to accept what is told to it by Holy Church. Now he who is not humble cannot submit to anything of the kind; hence doubts and temptations against faith. Could it be charity ? But he who looks upon himself as being superior to others imagines that pre-eminence is always due to him, that the best share of everything belongs to him, that everyone should bow down to his decisions and yield to his will; now, all that is incompatible with charity. Could it be wisdom and prudence ? But he who is inebriated with a good opinion of himself throws himself rashly into all kinds of difficulties and dangers, prefers his own ideas to the advice of wise men, makes of himself a master of all subjects and speaks like a doctor. Could it be knowledge of ourselves ? But the good opinion of our own merit, like a prism placed before our eyes, changes the color of objects, and hinders us from seeing ourselves as we really are. We have faults which shock everyone, and we alone do not even suspect them. We will not even allow ourselves to be warned about them; the most moderate kind of advice embitters and revolts us. Could it be, lastly, the love of God ? But divine love is comprehended only by the soul that despises itself. It belongs only to the soul that is conscious of its own baseness and profound misery to appreciate as it ought how good, merciful, and wondrously loving God is, to lower His greatness to our littleness, His holiness to our misery, His goodness to our ingratitude. Then only, then alone, it exclaims with St. Francis Assisi, and with its heart set on fire with love: “Who art Thou and who am I, O my God ?" or with St. Augustine: “O God, the abyss of my misery reveals to me the abyss of Thy mercy. Oh, how well Thou dost deserve my love in return for the love Thou dost bear to a creature as miserable as I am !” Let us sigh in the presence of God at the obstacle which self-love has hitherto placed in the way of our progress in all the virtues.
Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.
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