Vol 14 Issue 50 ~ Editor: Rev. Fr. Courtney Edward Krier
December 11, 2021 ~ Pope Saint Damasus, opn!
1. Sacrament of Penance
2. Gaudete Sunday
3. Our Lady of Guadalupe
4. Family and Marriage
5. Articles and notices
Dear Reader:
Tomorrow is Gaudete Sunday, but also the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Under this title, Our Lady is not only patroness of Mexico, but of all the Americas. When parts of Europe were leaving the Catholic Faith Mary brought that Faith in her Divine Son to a people who would be more devoted to her and Christ. In the beginning of the sixteenth century the unsophisticated indigenous population of the western hemisphere needed a purpose in life since the basis of their pagan faith was shattered in the downfall of their political and religious leaders by the Spanish Conquistadors that left a vacuum needing to be filled. This was accomplished by Our Lady appearing in a manner that was understood by these people. It was a clear message for them and not one that was easily misunderstood. The Bishop of Mexico, Fray Juan de Zumarraga, was placed in the position of substantiating the intervention of Mary and, considering that it might be the imagination of an over-zealous convert, knew that only a supernatural event could have occurred by the miracle and the conversions it was already bringing to the glory and honor of God. He confirmed that the apparition was neither a human invention nor a diabolical hallucination. Therefore, despite the seeming introduction of an unknown culture to European minds, the words of the message and the miraculous image of the Virgin on the tilma had the seal of God’s Providence.
At this very year of 1531, Henry VIII banished Catherine, his wife, and with it, left the Catholic faith by bringing in Ann Boleyn and Thomas Cranmer as an outward sign of his rejection. England was previously titled as Mary’s dowry, and, now stolen by these evil persons, it seems the dowery was given to the peoples of the Americas to be the Land of Mary’s wonders. Though the shrines and apparitions of Europe may still intrigue the American, there are many shrines and apparitions in the Americas as well. May Our Lady continue to take us under her mantle and bless us with her intercession.
As always, enjoy the readings provided for your benefit.—The Editor
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WHAT IS THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
What is the Sacrament of Penance?
Frequent Confession
A common practice to obtain the graces of the Sacrament of Confession in the struggle to overcome faults and failings or to receive in increase of sanctifying grace is frequent confession or devotional confession. Devotional confession is not the obtaining of forgiveness of an unconfessed sin or sins, but a reiteration of sins already confessed but confessed again not through scrupulosity but a true sorrow for the sin. It must be stressed that sin must be confessed and that one must have true sorrow for the sin or sins confessed, and just a simple repetition. The following explains the true purpose of the frequent confession of sins:
Can a person confess again sins—mortal sins or venial sins—that he has already duly confessed? We have already remarked that what is taken hold of by the sacramental power of Confession and elevated is not the sins that we confess but the interior acts of the will by which we turn away from these sins: our sentiments of contrition, of desire to make atonement, etc. Now once a sin has been committed it remains a fact always that sin has been committed, even after it has been fully pardoned. And it is possible for a person again and again to turn away interiorly from such a sin, to condemn it, to be sorry for it, to resolve to avoid it for the future and to amend his life, to do acts of penance for it. There is no reason why such interior dispositions, as often as they are present, should not be elevated by the power of Christ in the Sacrament of Penance and made fruitful of grace. For also in this case, where sins that have already been confessed and forgiven are confessed again, the Sacrament produces its essential effect: it increases sanctifying grace, which, from its very nature as the fruit of the Sacrament of Penance, blots out sin if such happens to be on the soul. The grace produced by the Sacrament of Penance cannot be conceived without reference to sin: to the sin which it would take away were the soul in a state of sin. Therefore the words of the priest, “I absolve thee”, have their full meaning even when they do nothing but increase grace and do not actually take away sin for the simple reason that there is no sin there to take away. Hence the Church teaches that sins that have already been confessed are “sufficient matter” for Confession (Code of Canon Law, can. 902). And Pope Benedict XI in 1304 declared that is “salutary” to confess again sins that have been confessed previously [Denzinger, Enchirid. Symb., n. 470]. (Baur, 19-20)
Pius XII answers those opposed to the devotional confession:
The same result follows from the opinions of those who assert that little importance should be given to the frequent confession of venial sins. Far more important, they say, is that general confession which the Spouse of Christ, surrounded by her children in the Lord, makes each day by the mouth of the priest as he approaches the altar of God. As you well know, Venerable Brethren, it is true that venial sins may be expiated in many ways which are to be highly commended. But to ensure more rapid progress day by day in the path of virtue, We will that the pious practice of frequent confession, which was introduced into the Church by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, should be earnestly advocated. By it genuine self-knowledge is increased, Christian humility grows, bad habits are corrected, spiritual neglect and tepidity are resisted, the conscience is purified, the will strengthened, a salutary self-control is attained, and grace is increased in virtue of the Sacrament itself. Let those, therefore, among the younger clergy who make light of or lessen esteem for frequent confession realize that what they are doing is alien to the Spirit of Christ and disastrous for the Mystical Body of our Savior. (Pius XII in Mystici Corporis, 1943)
How to Make a Good Confession
The five conditions to make a worthy Confession and receive this Sacrament fruitfully are: Examine one’s conscience; be sorry for one’s sins; make up one’s mind not to sin again; tell one’s sins to the priest; and, be willing to do the penance the priest imposes upon one. The following will be a brief explanation of each of these conditions.
Examine my conscience.
All Catholics are expected to learn the Ten Commandments before their First Communion. Why, because one must confess their sins before approaching the Sacred Banquet. Our Lord speaks of the guest who did not have on his wedding garment (sanctifying grace) and was cast out (Matt. 22:11-13). And what does one examine his or her conscience with to find out one’s sins? God’s Commandments and the Precepts of the Church. One, therefore, is asking oneself: Did I put God first? Did I take His Name in vain? Did I keep His day holy? Did I go to Holy Mass? Did I disobey my parents? Did I do harm to someone or did I harm myself? And so forth. This is simple enough since the conscious “no” to Truth and Goodness takes one away from the path to God and if one seeks to return one knows where one must go back to when one left His path. Time must be set aside for the examine. It may be done before coming to Church. Writing down one’s sins is not recommended, but it is not forbidden—only the possibility of loosing the paper and someone discovering your sins, putting you and the other person in an undesirable position. Therefore, if you do write down your sins make sure you take precautions to safeguard the notations and disposing of the paper afterwards. If you come to Church, make sure you prepare and make a thorough examination—even if the priest is not hearing someone else’s confession and waits, for the priest will stay there for the time assigned as is his obligation. He does not expect you to examine your conscience in the confessional, nor does he want you to make a bad confession—and a sign to all is someone rushing into Church and going right to the Confessional without any recollection and then rushing right out of the Church after Confession without any thanksgiving or sign of doing the penance the priest imposes.
Regarding the examination of Conscience there are three things to consider: Only mortal sins must be confessed; only what one remembers at the time must be confessed; and the confession should not be a torturous event, that is, one feels forced to try to find sin where it is not.
One is still not ready to enter the Confessional, now it is time to meet the next condition.
Be sorry for my sins.
During Holy Week the Church reflects on the sufferings of Christ. She does not blame the Jews or Pontius Pilate for the terrible suffering her Spouse, Jesus Christ, endured, she wants the faithful to remember Christ suffered and died for sin—to atone for sin and to take away sin. Therefore, when one looks at the Crucifix, one should realize that is what one did by sinning and one should be sorry. When a child is told by its mother to wash the dishes and the child refuses, the mother weeps from the pain this rejection causes. The child perceives what it has caused the mother and responds with the words, “I am sorry.” I am sorry I caused you this pain. If I had listened you would not be so sad. The suffering Our Lord endured should evoke the same feelings from the heart.
According to the Baltimore Catechism, Contrition is sincere sorrow for having offended God, and hatred for the sins we have committed, with a firm purpose of sinning no more. (Q. 388) Sorrow required for Confession must have these qualities: Interior, supernatural, supreme and universal.
Interior
It is easy to say words. In fact if one becomes good at reading facial expressions, body language and tonal changes, and one responds accordingly this is considered being emotionally intelligent (EQ) but it doesn’t mean it is real. One’s parents, after calling a sibling a preposterous name, may tell one to apologize. The child may say, I am sorry, in a clear voice to be heard by the parents, while in its heart one is plotting to revenge the parental intervention. One cannot say one is truly sorry when one intends to continue to abuse another. In one’s relationship with God there is no difference. The sorrow must come from the heart as well as the lips. It is not a feeling, but an acknowledgement of the truth that one did wrong and must make it right.
Supernatural
Naturally when one does something that incurs a negative repercussion one seeks a way to nullify it without actually expressing sorrow. Coming home with failing grade, one may start taking out the garbage or clean one’s room giving the idea that one is sorrow, when one is really trying to avoid being grounded. The same with the Sacrament of Penance. One can go to confession as a guise that one has changed one’s life when it is rather that one is seeking to not be deprived of a relationship, or privileges being taken away. One cannot go to Confession because one doesn’t want one’s parents to punish them or one doesn’t want to contract a disease. The reason for going to Confession must be because one realizes they lost heaven and won’t have the right unless they confess, or they are now destined for the eternal pains of the next life; but most of all, because they lost a relationship with God which can only be restored through Confession—and this relationship is the most important aspect of life. The ingratitude to such a loving God must be repaired by an expression of gratitude in fulfilling what the other desires, and God desires a repentant heart found in the person asking for forgiveness through Confession and ceasing the offense.
Perfect contrition is an act of charity, emanating from what is called filial fear: the measure of contrition and charity should, therefore, it is obvious, be the same: but the charity which we cherish towards God, [1 John iv. 7.] is the most perfect love; and, therefore, the sorrow which contrition inspires, should also be the most perfect. God is to be loved above all things; and whatever separates us from God is, therefore, to be hated above all things. (Rom. Cat., II, 5)
Imperfect contrition, or sorrow for sin because it causes one the loss of heaven or delivers one to the eternal punishments of the next life is sufficient as these reasons are supernatural. Contrition is also imperfect if one recognizes sin is abhorrent of itself as an offense against God. Imperfect contrition is sufficient to obtain pardon for sin through the Sacrament of Penance. One can obtain forgiveness of mortal sin by a perfect act of contrition which includes the intention of confessing the sin or sins as soon as possible. One may not receive another Sacrament besides Penance, until one has gone to Confession.
Supreme
Though one may not be moved to tears, one must grasp the realization that sin is the worse evil because it is opposed to the infinite goodness of God. As the Roman Catechism continues:
Besides, if it is true, that of all objects which solicit our love, God is the supreme good, and no less true, that of all objects which deserve our execration sin is the supreme evil; the same principle which prompts us to confess that God is to be loved above all things, obliges us also of necessity to acknowledge that sin is to be hated above all things. That God is to be loved above all things, so that we should be prepared to sacrifice our lives rather than offend him, these words of the Redeemer declare: “He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me:” [Matt. x. 37.] “He that will save his life shall lose it.” [Matt. xvi. 25.—Mark vii. 35.] As charity, it is the observation of St. Bernard, recognises neither measure nor limit, or to use his own words, as “the measure of loving God is to love him without measure,” [Lib. de diligendo Deo circa med.] so the measure of hating sin should be, to hate sin without measure. Besides, our contrition should be supreme not only in degree, but also in intensity, and thus perfect, excluding all apathy and indifference, according to these words of Deuteronomy: “When thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shall find him: yet so if thou seek him with all thy heart, and all the affliction of thy soul;” [Deut iv. 29.] and of the prophet Jeremiah: “thou shalt seek me and shalt find me, when thou shalt seek me with all thy heart; and will be found by thee, saith the Lord.” [Jer. xxix. 13.] (Rom. Cat. loc. cit.)
Universal
If one is sorry for offending someone and expects to obtain the person’s pardon, it will never be obtained if it is partial, that is, if one says one is sorry, for instance, for shooting someone but not for robbing him or her or for betraying one the first time but not the second then it stands to reason one is not sorry or one actually intends to continue to offend again. Therefore, contrition must be universal, that is, for at least all mortal sin in the context that one is sorry for everything one has done to seriously offend God and therefore will cease to offend God seriously in everything. Besides, if a mortal sin is not forgiven, one cannot not receive sanctifying grace—the restoration of a relationship with God—for which this Sacrament was instituted.
Venial sin need not be confessed as it does not sever one’s relationship with God; one does not lose sanctifying grace through the commission of venial sin. One should be sorry and ask forgiveness in order to remove any obstacles to a closer union with God and, as such, one would confess and must have sorrow for at least one venial sin if one were only to confess venial sins. To be indifferent toward venial sin also weakens the will, conditioning it to be willing to commit even mortal sin. Abhorrence of venial sin will strengthen the will to avoid all sin and therefore most certainly mortal sin.
Having assured oneself that true contrition, perfect or imperfect, has been obtained, one must next resolve not to commit the sin or sins again.
(To be continued)
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The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers
M. F. Toal
JOHN i. 19-28
At that time: the Jews sent from Jerusalem priests and Levites to John, to ask him: Who art thou? And he confessed. and did not deny: and he confessed. I am not the Christ. And they asked him: What then? Art thou Elias? And he said: I am not. Art thou The Prophet? And he answered: No. They said therefore unto him: Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us? What sayest thou of thyself? He said: I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaias. And they that were sent, were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said to him: Why then dost thou baptize, if thou be not Christ, nor Elias, nor The Prophet? John answered them, saying: I baptize with water; but there hath stood one in the midst of you, whom you know not. The same is he that shall come after me, who is preferred before me: the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose. These things were done in Bethania, beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
II. ST LEO: ON FASTING AND ALMSGIVING
On the Fast of the Tenth Month and on Offerings
That of which the season of the year and our customary devotion reminds us, we, Dearly Beloved, in our paternal duty, now preach to you, namely; that you must observe the fast of the tenth month [December], whereby, for the complete harvest of all fruits, there is most fittingly offered to God, the Giver of them, an offering of self mortification. For what can be more salutary for us than fasting, by the practice of which we draw nigh to God, and, standing fast against the devil, defeat the vices that lead us astray.
For fasting was ever the food of virtue. From abstinence there arise chaste thoughts, just decisions, salutary counsels. And through voluntary suffering the flesh dies to the concupiscences, and the spirit waxes strong in virtue. But as the salvation of our souls is not gained solely by fasting, let us fill up what is wanting in our fasting with alms-giving to the poor. Let us give to virtue what we take from pleasure. Let the abstinence of the man who fasts be the dinner of a poor man.
Let us have thought for the protection of the widow, for the welfare of the orphan, for the comforting of those that mourn, for the peace of those who live in discord. Let the stranger be given shelter. Let the oppressed be aided, the naked be clothed, the sick cherished; so that whosoever has offered from his own works of justice a sacrifice of righteousness to God, the Author of all good things, may merit to receive from the Selfsame the reward of a heavenly kingdom.
Let us then fast on the fourth and sixth day of the week. On the sabbath let us likewise keep watch, together with the Blessed Apostle Peter, by the help of whose merits we may obtain that for which we pray, through the mercy of Jesus Christ Our Lord, Who with the Father and the Holy Spirit, liveth and reigneth, world without end, Amen.
ST MAXIMUS: ON THE PREPARATION FOR THE LORD’S COMING
1. Last Sunday I spoke, I trust fully and sufficiently, of how, prepared and becomingly adorned, we should greet the Natal Day of the Lord, and observe in a worthy manner the coming festival. To observe the festival I repeat, so that though the day’s solemnity may pass, the joy of its sanctifying grace may abide. For this is the special grace of the Lord’s Birth Day, that while it goes on to all who in the future will receive it, it still remains with the devout souls to whom it was already given. Let us then be made clean in holiness, clothed in modesty, worthy in heart; and the nearer we approach the festival, the more circumspectly let us walk.
2. If women who have the care of a home will on certain days wash with water the garments that are soiled, should we not also make ready our souls for the Birth Day of tbe Lord, cleansing with our tears the stains of our conscience. And they, should they find the garments so soiled and stained, that they cannot be made clean with water alone, add to the water the softening of oil and the acrimony of soap. We likewise, should we have committed sins that are not washed away by repentance alone, let us add the oil of almsgiving and the bitterness of fasting.
There is no sin so grave that abstinence will not cleanse, that almsgiving will not blot out. For, as the Holy Prophet says: as water puts out fire, so the giving of alms extinguishes sin (Ecclus. iii. 33). Great then is the power of almsgiving, which cools the glowing mass of our burning sins as from the fountain of its own good will, and puts out the fires of evil as with the waters of its own generosity; so that God, though offended by us, though provoked by our iniquities, is compelled to free him, because of alms, whom He had decreed to punish because of sin.
For in a manner we do violence to Him, when He is forced by our actions to change His own decree, and against the one and the same person to be moved first by the sternness of a judge, and then by the tender affection of a father. For God is the Father of the Just. He is the Judge of sinners. The Lord is therefore compelled by our good works to bestow His mercy on us, as He has Himself declared in the Holy Gospel: From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away (Mt. xi. 12). Let us examine the meaning of these words.
3. The kingdom of heaven is none other than Christ the Lord Who reigns on high. The phrase, to suffer violence, originally meant the action whereby something vague and indefinite was made more concrete by constant action. From the time therefore that John the Baptist announced the coming of the Saviour, from there the kingdom of heaven, which had for so long been fluid and undefined in the mind of the Jewish people, began, from the steadfast faith of those who believed, to become more definite, and all that former insubstantiality of the kingdom began, by reason of the frequency of his preaching, to take concrete form. So undefined was this kingdom to the Jews, that it passed over to the Gentiles; so fluid was it, that it flowed out among all peoples.
Now however it is compacted together, by the mass of those who believe, so that it remains firm and defined for ever, as the Scripture says: and of His Kingdom there shall be no end (Lk. i. 33). We are therefore, in a manner, making this kingdom defined, and we do violence against it, as the Gospel lesson says: and the violent bear it away. We do violence, I say, against the Lord, not by compelling, but by weeping; not provoking Him by insults, but by pleading with tears of repentance; not by blaspheming in pride, but by grieving in humility. O Blessed violence! Which is not repelled with indignation, but forgiven in mercy. Blessed violence, I repeat, which stirs up goodness in the one who suffers this violence, and brings reward to the one who inflicts it. An assault is made, and no one complains of injury; violence is suffered, and respect for order is increased. He that used most violence against Christ, is by Christ esteemed the most devoted.
Let us attack the Lord on the way, because He is the Way (Jn. xiv. 6), and after the manner of robbers let us despoil Him of His goods; let us take from Him His kingdom, His treasures and His life. But He is so rich and so generous that He will not resist us, and when He has given us all that is His, He still possesses all things. Let us assault Him, I say, not with sword, or staff, or stone, but with mildness, with good works, with chastity.
4. These are the weapons of our Faith, by means of which we wage war. That we may use these weapons we must however do violence to ourselves. We must drive out vice from our own members, that we may attain to the rewards of virtue. For we must first rule in our own hearts, before we can seize the kingdom of heaven. The Gospel says: and the violent bear it away. We are therefore thieves; thieves seize that which belongs to others. I can see that this is truly so. The Church has stolen Christ from the Synagogue; and, by doing violence, has seized the kingdom for another people. For the Saviour, sent under the Law, born under the Law, reared according to the Law, being neglected by the Jews, was seized by the Gentiles. He was lost by the Priests, and was found by sinners; as He Himself has said: Publicans and sinners shall go into the Kingdom of Heaven before you (Mt. xxi. 32). We are therefore thieves.
5. Nor is this to be wondered at, seeing from what source we descend. For it is written of our patriarch Benjamin: a ravenous wolf (Gen. xlix. 27). For he seized what was not his. So likewise we, as children of a ravenous wolf, have by our own effort carried off the Shepherd of another flock, as He Himself has said: I was not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel (Mt. xi. 14). Christ then is carried off, when, rejected by the Jews, He is praised by the Gentiles. He is carried off, when, slain by the Jews, He was buried by us. He was carried off by the watching Apostles, and lost by the sleeping Pharisees; for even in their lying they confessed Him, when after His Resurrection they placed guards at His sepulchre, saying: His Disciples came by night, and stole him away when we were asleep (Mt. xxviii. 13).
Whence, mystically, we are to understand, that all who sleep lose Christ, and the vigilant find Him; and so the Apostle says: Rise thou that sleepest, and rise from the dead; and Christ will enlighten thee (Eph. v. 14). You see then that he is as one dead, who so sleeps that he does not guard the Saviour: so too the Pharisees being as it were dead could not keep watch over the Living. So, Brethren, let us not sleep, but keep watch about Our Lord and Saviour, to make sure with unceasing vigil that no one shall steal Him from the sepulchre of our hearts, lest we may have to say at some time: they came while we were sleeping and stole Him away. For we have enemies who will try to steal Christ from our hearts, should we lapse into sleep. So with unceasing watch let us keep Him within the sepulchre of our souls; there let Him rest; there let Him sleep; there when He wills, let Him rise again.
6. Therefore, Brethren, let us who are about to greet the Birth Day of the Lord clean our consciences from all defilement; and let us prepare for ourselves, not silken garments, but precious works. Elegant garments may adorn the body, but they do not adorn the conscience; unless you consider it more decorous, to go about elegant in dress and defiled in mind. That the clothing of the outward man may in all ways be becoming, let us first make worthy the dispositions of the interior man; that our bodily adornment may be the more perfect, let us wash away all spiritual stain.
It is of little profit to be well clothed, and stained with crime. Where the conscience is darkened, the whole person is under shadow. But we have the means whereby we may wash the stains of our consciences; as it is written: give alms, and behold all things are clean unto you (Lk. xi. 41). Good is the precept of almsgiving, whereby we work with our own hands (I Thess. iv. 11), and are made clean in heart, by the mercy of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who with the Father and the Holy Spirit, liveth and reigneth world without end, Amen.
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December 12
Our Lady of Guadalupe
“The lady from Heaven”
Did you know?
Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to Saint Juan Diego on December 9, 10 and 12, 1531.
The image left on Saint Juan Diego’s tilma is the only true picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe in existence.
The image has remained intact with all its original vibrancy for 475 years. The natural life span of a cloak made with fiber from the agave or maguey plant is only about 30 years.
The image is a pictograph which could be read and understood by the Aztec Indians.
Our Lady appears as a beautiful young Indian maiden and Queen.
Her eyes are looking down with humility and compassion. She is human, not God.
She is wearing a blue-green mantle (the color worn by royalty) covered with stars.
The stars signify she comes from heaven – the Queen of Heaven. The constellations are in the exact position as appeared before dawn on the morning of December 12, 1531.
Her robe is colored rose or pale red and covered with Aztec flowers, symbolic of an Aztec princess.
In the center of her robe, overlying her womb, is a four petal quincunx flower in the shape of a cross which is the sign of the Divine and the center of the cosmic order to the Aztec. The Virgin’s Baby, Jesus, is Divine and the new center of the universe.
Her hands are joined in prayer and, therefore, she is not God but clearly there is one greater than she and she points her finger to the cross on her brooch.
Her fur cuffs symbolize royalty.
She wears a black maternity band signifying she is with Child.
A black cross is on the brooch around her neck. This signifies she is a follower of the God of the Spanish Missionaries, Jesus Christ who died on the cross for all.
She stands in front of the sun. The sun symbolizes the greatest Aztec god – Huitzilopochtli. She announces the God who is greater than their sun god.
She stands on the moon. The crescent moon symbolized the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent moon god. She has clearly crushed and defeated him.
An angel with eagle’s wings supports the Mother of God. The eagle was the “bird of the sun.” Here the eagle is the servant of the Virgin. She holds her mantle in one hand and robe with the other, signifying the Son she bears is from both heaven and earth.
To date the image cannot be explained by science.
The image on the tilma was able to do what up to that time the missionaries were not able to do significantly. Namely, clearly explain Christianity to the Indian people. The proof is in the fact that after the apparitions, eight million natives of Mexico converted to Catholicism from 1531 to 1538.
(https://guadalupeshrine.org/)
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LETTERS TO JACK
WRITTEN BY A PRIEST TO HIS NEPHEW
By the
RIGHT REV. FRANCIS C. KELLEY, D.D., LL.D.
(1917)
XXII
HUMILITY
WE haven’t any more right to steal God’s honor from God than to steal their money from our neighbors.
IF you give an advice you make a present of it to someone else. It no more belongs to you; then why should you seek glory from it?
TRUE humility is true dignity.
My dear Jack:
The book that I love and admire next to the Bible is the Imitation of Christ. There is a whole sermon in its title, for Christ is the Exemplar of mankind. To attempt even a feeble imitation of Him is to have one’s feet set on the road to true success.
One of the most insistent of Christ’s good examples was His humility before His Father; yet He was one with the Father. “The Father and I,” He said, “are one”. “I have glorified Thee on earth; I have finished the work Thou gavest me to do, and now glorify Thou Me, O Father, with Thyself, with the glory which I had before the world was, with Thee.” Christ knew perfectly well what glory was His own, but it was only at the end of His earthly mission that He made any claim to it. It was Christ’s constant habit to fight off glory for Himself. His humility was the deepest of all humility. By example He taught that lesson, and established the usefulness and need of this all-conquering virtue. You see, Jack, I have started this letter in a sermonizing sort of way. I am afraid that all my letters have, in spite of myself, become half sermons. They have just drifted that way; and I could not help it. These letters unconsciously found out for themselves that they needed a solid basis; hence the religious tone that they have adopted.
The fact of the existence of God and our dependence upon Him is the basis of the virtue of humility; for we have nothing that is of our own making, nothing belonging to us that we can be proud of, save our divine ancestry. Our divine ancestry even is an invitation for us to be humble. Pride is a sort of apostasy, for it is the setting up of oneself in a place that belongs to God. The Commandment, “Thou shalt not have strange gods before Me”, not only hits ordinary idolators but also the proud and selfish people who enthrone themselves in God’s place. All saints were very humble, and no proud man can be a saint. True success calls for humility. We haven’t any more right to steal God’s honor from God than to steal their money from our neighbors. To be vainglorious, proud and boastful is not only to make yourself a nuisance to all who know you, but it is to steal from God what belongs to Him.
The perversities of pride show a man a weakling to his fellows and lead to his ruin. I have known some men, for example, who are in the habit of constantly volunteering advice—a very despicable habit, by the way. It may be that the advice was entirely unnecessary, and that the victim of it receives no information whatever from it; but if his action is in line with. that advice, even though it had been previously determined on, long before he met the officious meddler, nevertheless the meddler proceeds to take all the credit to himself. When you hear men say: ” I did that” “I made such and such a man” “I pulled this thing out of the mud”, etc., etc., you may conclude safely that some one is trying to ride, through his pride and vainglory, on the shoulders of another. It is only a manifestation of foolish conceit.
If you give an advice you make a present of it to someone else. It no more belongs to you; then why should you seek glory from it? When you give advice and then demand the credit for any good that follows, your offering is merely what boys call an “Injun’s gift”,—a gift that you want back. If you give advice keep quiet about it. It is best anyhow not to give it unless you are asked. You haven’t any right to be an embarrassment to other people; and ninety-nine per cent of volunteered advice is a tax upon the patience and charity of those who receive it. I confess to a cordial dislike for the man who constantly thrusts his advice upon me. I may be wrong, but the conviction forces itself upon me that such a man is selfish, mean and vainglorious. He wants to exalt himself at my expense in most cases. If I take his advice, he will boast about it and act toward me as if I were under a perpetual obligation. If I do not take it, he thinks me a fool. Volunteering advice is a sure way to begin to cultivate a new enemy. Even when you are asked to give advice, do not rattle it off as if you were master of the subject. Hesitate about giving it, at least until you know it is really wanted. Then offer it in a very humble way. Most people who ask for advice really do not want it. They are seeking confirmation of their own opinions and approval of their own plans.
It is true that no one should cultivate the ” ‘umbleness” of Uriah Heep, though there are plenty of people who like it in others, because they cannot see the falseness at the bottom of it. To be humble you have to feel humble, and to feel humble you must be to a great extent a spiritual person. The humbleness that comes from a sense of our dependence upon God is never the ” ‘umbleness” of Uriah Heep. True humility does not cringe. True humility is true dignity. The humblest men I ever knew were the greatest men I ever knew. I never saw a more beautiful humility than that of Pope Pius X. This sort of humility is very attractive, especially in youth, because there never is any boasting connected with it. Deeds have a habit of speaking for themselves. Boastings are only the gilt wash on base metal. Once a friend gave me a match-case of silver. It was very beautiful. The engraving upon it was especially fine. I was not satisfied, so I had it plated with gold; and I spoiled it, because the plating smoothed over the fine marks of the engraving. The beauty of my match-safe was gone forever. Do not go about gilding yourself and your deeds. People often know you better than you know yourself. The marks of your own handiwork on your own soul are the marks of character.
Modesty is a ticket of admission to the heart of all the men who are worth knowing. When you gain entrance to such a man’s heart, the way is short to his intelligence. Modesty is the outward expression of honesty and well-founded humility. Humility does not destroy the confidence you should have in yourself. It only gives it a good foundation because it puts God into it; and confidence is based on self-knowledge. A man who knows himself knows that his strength is greater than anything it would be possible for him to have made alone. It is God in us that strengthens us.
I said that true humility is spiritual. It is more—it is spiritualizing. When one is truly humble, one possesses a virtue that God loves and rewards. If I had a choice of virtues I would select humility, because I know that it includes most of the others; but it is a hard virtue to acquire. It takes patience and prayer to force its development in the soul. The best way to secure what is needed of it for daily life is through that form of prayer which is called “mental”, which is meditation. Meditation turns the light on yourself, and shows you up to yourself. To acquire the virtue of humility it is only necessary to be honest with yourself when you see yourself, and carry that honesty out into your dealings with your fellows.
(To be continued.)
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Father Krier will be in Touzim, Czech Republic (Immaculate Conception), December 14-15. He will be in Eureka, Nevada (Saint Joseph, Patron of Families) on December 30.
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