TRUE HUMILITY ACKNOWLEDGES THAT ALL THE GOOD WE HAVE COMES FROM GOD.

1. True humility enables us to see that all we have is on loan.

To be humble does not mean to go around dirty and unkempt. It does not mean being indifferent to all that happens around us and constantly failing to exercise our rights. Much less does it mean to go around proclaiming silly things about ourselves. There can be no humility if we are theatrical or if we are hypocrites, because humility is truth.

St. Josemaria

In spite of the limitless goodness of God our Lord, he will not be able to sanctify us or save us without our consent and without our will. And without him, neither will we accomplish anything worthwhile. Just as you can see fields producing different kinds of fruit, so you see souls produce different fruits of holiness – although in truth, no one is good but God alone: he is the one who makes the field fertile, he is the one who gives the seed the possibility of multiplying. And he is the one who confers on an apparently withered twig the power to take root. He it is who has blessed human nature with his grace, thus enabling it to act in a Christian way, and to be happy struggling in the hope of that future life which is everlasting happiness and love. My children, humility is knowing that neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

St. Josemaria

Humility, then. Humility which is the fruit of knowing God and knowing ourselves. Self-knowledge enables us to know the good things God has done in us but which do not belong to us. We belong to the Lord; all the good we have is his. As St. Josemaria wrote:

 It is not a lack of humility to be aware of the progress of your soul – That way you can thank God for it. -But don’t forget that you are a poor fellow, wearing a good suit… on loan. (St. Josemaria).

2. True humility enables us to see and admit our defects and failings without discouragement and with contrition, thus converting our failures into victories.

Humility also enables us to see our defects and shortcomings: not simply the limitations of our condition as creatures, but the failings for which we are personally responsible, so that we can say with the Psalmist: Against you, you only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight. In fact, we become aware not only of the evil done, but also of our disordered passions which would lead us to commit sin if we did not have the continuous help of God’s grace.

As I wrote you many years ago, even the spoiled fruit, the dead twigs and the fallen leaves, when buried at the foot of the tree, can strengthen the tree that bore them. How could our mistakes and our errors, in a word, our sins – which we do not want, which we abhor – have done us any good? They have, because contrition followed, and we were ashamed and anxious to do better, and cooperate with God’s grace. Through humility, what was dead is converted into life. What was going to cause sterility and failure, turns into victory and an abundance of fruit. (St. Josemaria).

Mary, most humble, our Mother, during these days of preparation for your birthday, may we strive to grow in humility, and thus in charity.

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