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Twelfth Monday after Pentecost
- caelidomum
- Aug 31
- 4 min read
Updated: Sep 6
Twelfth Monday after Pentecost. Thirteenth Reason for Being Very Humble: Humility the Secret of Happiness.
Summary of the Morrow’s Meditation.
We will meditate to-morrow on a thirteenth reason for being very humble; it is that therein consists the secret of our happiness even in the present life, and in order to understand it we shall see: 1st, how unhappy is the man who is devoid of humility; 2d, how happy is the truly humble man. We will then make the resolution: 1st, always to have a great deal of consideration for every one, even for our inferiors; 2d, not to require any consideration to be shown to ourselves, and to receive with great gratitude, as a thing which is not due to us, the kindness bestowed upon us. Our spiritual nosegay shall be the words of Our Lord: “Learn of Me, because I am meek and humble of heart, and you shall find rest to your souls” (Matt. xi. 29).
Meditation for the Morning.
Let us adore the ineffable goodness of Jesus Christ, who has enabled us to find happiness here below in the accomplishment of His will, and, above all, in the practice of humility. Let us thank Him for all His goodness and render to Him all our homage.
How Unhappy is the Man who is Devoid of Humility.
If the man who is not humble considers himself, he beholds his wretchedness with nothing but sorrow and annoyance; he is sad and sombre in his temper on account of it. and his melancholy makes him a burden to others and to himself. If, after looking at his own person, he casts his eyes on his neighbor, the advantages which others possess excite his jealousy. A preference which is not granted to him, a slight reproach, or even a charitable piece of advice, saddens him and fills his soul with vexation. A check in a project wherein he hoped for success; a word of censure or of ridicule; a look, a gesture, forgetfulness of certain small attentions which he believed were his due, is enough to discourage and cast him down. In the smallest sign of contempt he finds the source of a great grievance, as is seen in the favorite of Assuerus, who shed tears of despair because the esteem of one single man in the empire was not accorded to him. It is a susceptibility which is annoyed, which is uneasy and offended at everything. There is no need for him to seek a cause out of himself; his own temperament is sufficient to render him unhappy. The suspicions he conceives, the rash judgments he forms, the imaginations which have no foundation, are enough to render him gloomy and discontented (Prov. xi. 2). Let us here examine our past lives, and we shall see that the greater portion of our troubles comes from hence. Who could give expression to the sadness and melancholy which our imagination has excited in us with regard to the unfavorable opinion which we fancy has been entertained of us ? What trouble and uneasiness have been inflicted on our minds on account of a small humiliation which we have received, a reproof addressed to us, or the thought that we have not been respected as much as we ought to have been!
How Happy the really Humble Man is even Here Below.
Our Lord has promised peace and happiness to humble souls. “Learn of Me,” He says, “because I am meek and humble of heart, and you shall find rest to your souls” (Matt. xi. 29); and He keeps His word to all who strive to be really humble. The humble man is always content and tranquil; he receives trials with meekness, believing that he deserves them; he sees the privileges possessed by others without feeling any vexation, esteeming that the last place is good enough for him. Words which touch his reputation do not affect him: if he is spoken well of, he pities the men who are deceived about him; and if he is spoken evil of, he is content that others should think of him as he thinks of himself. Being thus freed from the anxieties which human judgments cause others to feel, he is immovable like a rock in the midst of the waves of opinion which ebb and flow around him: he does not trouble himself any more about them than about the wind which blows, and goes on occupying himself in well-doing, and the What will they say ? he treads under foot and does not give it a thought. To do well and let what will be said, is his motto, not from a sentiment of proud con tempt which raises itself above what is said by man, but from a sentiment of true humility. “I am nothing,” he says; '”nothingness is not of fended at anything, nothingness does not pretend to anything, nothingness is not troubled at anything, nothingness does not attach itself to anything;” and filled with these humble sentiments, he enjoys God alone in all things. God only suffices him, and he is happy. God alone is all in all to him, and he cannot conceive that it is possible to desire anything else when we possess Him.
Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.
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