Jesus shows us the Way of Humility
In the Gospel reading this Sunday, Jesus tells a parable that demonstrates a very practical application of humility.
The parable itself is very simple: at a wedding feast, one who takes a place of honor may be asked to move to a lower place, but one who takes a lower place will be moved to a higher one. “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Lk 14:11).
One way of understanding humility is knowing yourself as you truly are. There are two ways that you can have a distorted view of self: vainglory, which claims to deserve honor and recognition before others, and false humility, which supposes worthlessness. These views look different, but both are essentially untrue. Truth sees the self as beautiful and flawed at the same time: beautiful because it was created by God with dignity, unique personal gifts, and a vocation to eternal happiness; flawed because of sin and the effects of sin.
A wonderful thing about humility is that it helps us to grow out of self-obsession. Both pride and false humility are fixations on self, making a distorted image of self the center and measure of everything. This forms an obstacle to true love and communion with God and others. When taking a lower place, pride says, “I am really better than these people,” and false humility says, “I don’t deserve any better.” Note that both are centered on the self. Humility says, “Everything is a gift,” and recognizes that God is the giver of gifts. This recognition leads to gratitude and facilitates love because when you know who you truly are and recognize that who you are and what you possess are gifts from God, then you become able to give yourself as a gift to others – the essence of true love.
Choosing a lower place can be challenging, but over time it becomes a habit of acting in which I can realize that joy and enjoyment don’t depend on honor or dishonor in the eyes of others. True joy is a gift of God that I can experience anywhere in any circumstances, and I can have that joy in the company of the greatest or least.
-Fr. Nate
