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FAITH FORMATION
HUMILITY
Comprising comments on the twelve steps of Humility – RB Chapter 7.
For some time now, the very word humility has been so distorted and misunderstood that one even hesitates to use it. In today’s world, with its strong emphasis on self-assertion and rights, to even mention this virtue of humility seems terribly out of place. For many today, "humility" means being weak, one we say, who has no backbone. It’s evident there is a lot of confusion about humility. Looking back in the history of Christian spirituality, especially from the Middle Ages on, humility is viewed simply as the virtue opposing the vice of pride. Even the great monastic writer, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, contrasts the 12 steps of humility in the Rule of St. Benedict to 12 steps of pride. True enough, it is that, but we'll see that humility is much more than simply the virtue opposed to pride.
We are faced with three difficulties:
1. Our contemporary confusion about humility as being a sort of weak-kneed approach to life.
2. The narrowing down of humility in Christian spirituality to just one of the virtues.
3. When we turn to the Rule of St. Benedict, we're faced with the additional difficulty of understanding the way which Benedict and the early Christian writers expressed their thoughts.
The RB is soaked in Sacred Scripture and has its own particular way of expressing itself. Here in the 21st century, we seem so distant from those early writers, that when we pick up the Rule and read Chapter 7 "On Humility," it's not surprising to learn that people have difficulty grasping the meaning and importance of humility for us today. What does St. Benedict propose to us as the import of humility? Why does he devote an entire chapter, and a long one at that, to what we commonly refer to as the virtue of humility? Let's take it step by step.
Step One: The first step of humility, is that one keeps the fear of God before one's eyes (Ps 35[36]:2) and never forgets it. Everything God has commanded must be constantly remembered, keeping in mind that all who despise God will burn in hell for their sins, and all who fear God will have everlasting life.
The base, the foundation of humility, is a sharp consciousness of being a sinner. It's a deep awareness of the need for redemption, salvation. In a sense, it's a persistent, open acknowledgement on our part that we can’t raise ourselves into eternal life by our own bootstraps! If the first degree of humility urges us to a conscious awareness of God's presence, "always," "constantly," "at every moment," it is to provide us with a foundation as needful persons for our God's help and strength. Don't misunderstand. An awareness of all that God has given us - talents, intelligence, health - is certainly in order. But unless we recognize such things precisely as gifts, unless we can add "0 God, be merciful to me, sinner that I am," our awareness is incomplete, unrealistic.
For St. Benedict, a sign of this recognition is found in the bowed head of Christ as He hangs on the cross, the ultimate act of humility, the ultimate act of love for us. For Jesus stands as our model in giving Himself for others. True humility, true awareness of self as sinner, leads us into the mystery of our dying and rising with Christ. For St. Benedict, humility is more than just one of the virtues. It is the daily participation in the mystery of Christ's dying and rising. This is why St. Benedict immediately adds, "the monk will quickly arrive at that perfect love of God which casts out fear" [1 John 4:18]. The practice of humility leads to an Easter blossoming of ourselves. Humility arrives at a flowering forth of love in us, right here and now in our earthly existence.
Step Two: The second step of humility, is that one loves not one's own will, nor takes pleasure in one's own desires. Rather, one shall imitate by action that which the Lord has said, "I have come not to do my own will but the Will of Him who sent me" (John 6:38).
Step Three: The third step of humility, is that one must submit to one's superior in all obedience for the love of God, and imitate the Lord of whom the Apostle says, "He became obedient, even to death" (Phil 2:8).
Such obedience is at the heart of the Benedictine spirit. The obedience a monk shows to his Abbot and not exclusively to the Abbot, but also to his seniors and for that matter to all his brothers, is an indication that he is actively seeking to do God's will.
Step Four: The fourth step of humility, is that in this obedience, even in difficult, unfavourable or unjust conditions, one's heart quietly embraces suffering and endures it without weakening or seeking escape.
To follow Christ into this daily mystery of dying and rising, means that we too have to make good decisions despite difficult and unfavourable circumstances. Indeed we can expect "difficult, unfavourable or even unjust conditions" in our lives since our model, Christ, experienced the same.
Step Five: The fifth step of humility, is that one does not conceal from one's superior any sinful thoughts entering one's heart, or any wrongs committed in secret. Rather, these things are confessed humbly.
Step Six: The sixth step of humility, is that one is content with the lowest, most menial treatment and regards oneself as a poor and worthless worker in whatever task is given.
Step Seven: The seventh step of humility, is that one not only admits through speech, but is also convinced deep within one's heart, that one is inferior to all and of less value.
If St. Benedict teaches that we should be open and honest in our own hearts, it is only through a radical truthfulness that self-deception can be avoided. To enter the mystery of humility, to align ourselves with the dying and rising of Christ, progressively asks of us a crucial truthfulness, for which our awareness of God's continual presence provides the groundwork. For we must be keenly aware of our need for our God, of our gifted strengths and ever present weaknesses and not presume that we are able of our own accord to enter this mystery of humility. We are servants of the Master and on coming in from the fields, we prepare the Master's supper, declaring - "We are merely servants, we have done no more than our duty." [c.f. Luke 17: 7-10]
Step Eight: The eighth step of humility, is that one does only what is endorsed by the common rule of the monastery and by the example set by the superiors.
Attaining a freedom granted only by this radical truthfulness, we don't have to concern ourselves with the opinion of others, or search to distinguish ourselves from others by blatant forms of singularity. There is no "cult of the personality" when we can accept the wisdom of ancestors, when we can abide by the ordinary and not indulge the ever-so-current desire to be “different” just for the sake of being different. Only the person solidly based in Christ's dying and rising, can tranquilly accept himself or herself as is, without making comparisons with others.
Step Nine: The ninth step of humility, is that one controls one's tongue and remains silent, not speaking unless asked a question.
The monk is here reminded that humility at all times entails the control of not only his thoughts but also of his tongue. Benedict was extremely aware of the ease in which one inflicts injury through careless chatter. A monk is instructed to use his powers of speech in order to encourage his brothers.
Step Ten: The tenth step of humility, is that one is not given to ready laughter, for it is written - “Only a fool raises his voice in laughter” (Sir 21:23).
Step Eleven: The eleventh step of humility, is that one speaks gently and without laughter, seriously and with modesty, briefly and reasonably, and without raising one's voice, as it is written - "A wise man is known by his few words."
Is it any wonder then that St. Benedict so stresses the proper use of human speech? What we have to say and how we say it reveals just how truthful we are with ourselves. Even accepting differences in personalities, the constant talker, the buffoon, the consistently boring person, reveal an interior emptiness, a desire to cover over with sound and noise the aching hollowness. An ancient writing speaks of God as a sweet well for a person thirsting in the desert. This well is sealed up to the person who has discovered his or her mouth, but is open to the silent. A bit of an exaggeration perhaps, but surely the point is that the appropriate use of speech has far more to say about our interior life than the subject of our talk. If titillating gossip and detraction are so commonly among us, don't they reveal more about our interior life than the subjects of our gossip and detraction?
Step Twelve: The twelfth step of humility, is that one always manifests humility in one's actions, no less than in one's heart.
Underlying what St. Benedict has to say in this 12th degree is the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector[Luke 18: 9-14]. Each of these men produces a prayer. The Pharisee offers a prayer of thanks, the tax collector's prayer is simply a cry for forgiveness, for mercy. And how does Jesus react? The tax collector went home "upright in the sight of God," Jesus explains. The Pharisee does not. The self-confessed sinner was pleasing to God, the self-professed saint was not. Why? The Pharisee wasn't lying or exaggerating his actions. Jesus does not challenge the Pharisee's facts. Jesus does not say: "Man, you're a liar, on fast days you sneak chocolates and you actually give 5% to the temple and not 10%." No, the parable has bite to it precisely because the Pharisee does every single thing his religion demands of him and perhaps more. Looking at what he does, you cannot fault him. What's the problem then? Review the first verses of this parable. Jesus "told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were upright and despised everybody else." This Pharisee thought that what made him pleasing in God's sight was his own laundry list of good works. He looked down his arrogant nose at the rest of the human race, everyone who did not duplicate his good deeds. Yet the Lord applauded the tax collector because he trusted not in himself but in God. The man did not contrast himself with anyone else. He did not care to comment on any member of the congregation save himself: "0 God, be merciful to me a sinner!"
We are indeed "workmen," as St. Benedict tells us, daily labouring in our dyings and risings, struggling with the aid of the Holy Spirit to bring forth that "love which casts out all fear." We do not, as it were, climb these steps of humility once and for all. Rather we return again and again throughout our lives, to this particular degree, or to another one or ones. As we move on in our pilgrimage, we meet new and different circumstances. Perhaps our health has deteriorated from our hale and hearty days. Our daily dyings and risings are now accompanied with aches and pains, pills and diets. We come back once again to climb this ladder of humility. We are "workmen" continually returning to repair, to improve, to rectify again and again our imitation of Christ. With God’s grace and help, we continually grow into the likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ.
For St. Benedict, humility isn't just one of the virtues, it's a whole way of the Christian life. Humility is like a small creek that begins in the hidden depths of a forest, yet in turn spills into a river and then into the ocean of God's infinite love and care. As we join ourselves on a daily basis to Christ, we too spill into a river and then into this ocean.
Humility for St. Benedict is a way of life. It's the Christian way of life. It embraces our consistent effort to model our lives on the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. Simply put, humility is the wide-angle, all-embracing truth of our lives in this world. Despite our contemporary misunderstandings of humility and the narrow scope in some Christian writings, with further study, reflection and prayer on this wise chapter in the Rule, we gradually arrive at a more complete grasp of our lives here on earth and a clear intimation of what lies ahead. For St. Benedict, humility is a much broader and deeper reality than simply the virtue opposed to the vice of pride. It is the way of life, the lived Paschal Mystery, not just some sort of external patina that is exposed to others. True humility strikes deep roots that give us stability in the midst of this life's soft spring breezes and violent tornadoes.
The 12 Steps to Humility
I also note that this past monday was the feast of St. Augustine Zhao Rong and his companions.
From Vatican.va: Agostino Zhao Rong e 119 compagni cinesi - biografia, Canonization of 123 new saints
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