Humility & Modern Day Rome
There has been a lot of talk about humility coming from Rome lately. So much so that one wonders whether such an emphasis betrays its contrary. Indeed humility is one of those elusive virtues where in by claiming it one puts oneself in danger of losing it. To boast of humility is as embarrassing as boasting of one’s beauty, both are only perceived in the eye of the beholder.
In common parlance, there are two ways of understanding humility as it is currently being bandied about.
Being Humble or modest
The first is humility as often described in terms of being humble or modest. This virtue would be exemplified in an attitude of simplicity, a life lived frugally, of not taking more than one needs in a given situation. Here one might exhibit this virtue in the modern world by opting for public transportation instead of buying a car. Of shopping at thrift stores instead of designer shops, of having a hamburger when one could as easily choose steak.
This kind of humility is well known and conceptualized in the minds of not only religious people, but also among the most committed of worldlings. Most of us witness others living this lifestyle out of necessity rather than by a conscious choice, but when we hear of those people who have the option to live in luxury yet chooses common things, it reminds us that perhaps happiness isn’t always found in the goods of this world, but somewhere else.
Yet this anti-materialist interpretation of humility can only take us so far. The Pope Francis’ apparent promotion of a simpler material life for clerics is certainly praiseworthy. Yet this abandonment of papal pomp can easily be mistaken for a downgrading of papal authority. It is said that Pope St. Pius X had a personal aversion towards pomp, but he yielded to it out of respect for tradition, knowing that a neglect of convention can have unforeseeable negative consequences. Refusing the red shoes for black ones may be trivial, but it does say something about the mindset of the wearer. Besides a message of simplicity it can also show a desire to have one’s own will above and beyond the protocol of one’s office. Certainly a dangerous precedence for an office so grounded in symbolism and tradition.
Abasement
Another perhaps less well-known interpretation of humility is as St Bernard defines:
A virtue by which a man knowing himself as he truly is, abases himself.”
This abasement can take different forms, but in general they are connected to the submission of the will and of one’s own desires and plans.
It can quite easily be seen how central the virtue of humility, so defined, is to the Christian life. First of all, the Christian has to accept that God, and not himself, is the best judge of what is good for him. This is probably the first real test of humility a Christian must pass on the road to holiness, yet how many people have such confidence as to give up such control?
A related submission would be to the explicit moral teachings of the Church --- especially the ones that touch one’s life most intimately. Here is where the rubber really hits the road in the spiritual life. How many people have the humility to pray to God “Lord, I give you my body and submit to your teachings in sexual matters. I am willing to accept whatever joys and endure whatever frustrations or disappointments you send me in this area because I believe you know more about what will make me happy than I do.”
Humility as submission
This understanding of humility as submission is also becoming increasingly rare regarding the acceptance of the doctrinal teachings of the Church. It is very hard indeed to find a Catholic these days that is willing to submit his mind and will to the traditional teachings of the Church on matters of faith. There always seems to be something that someone doesn’t understand, doesn’t like or wants to change. When Pope Paul VI said that “… the smoke of Satan has entered the Church…” he must surely have been intimating this sense of pride that has overtaken modern man, trying to reinvent everything to suit himself because he is somehow different, that he knows best.
Can this attitude not be seen in Cardinal Kasper’s theories on how to admit adulterous Catholics to Holy Communion? Couched in terms of mercy and penance, the Cardinal articulates a bold plan to undermine church doctrine and discipline while flying in the face of centuries of tradition that has developed to protect the integrity of the Blessed Sacrament, while instructing the faithful in the correct path to virtue.
Indeed the whole “spirit of Vatican II” could be summed up as a prideful anti-humble attitude that ridicules the value of tradition within the Church. It is seen as an unwillingness to submit to already revealed truths of the faith. In addition to being a shared spiritual patrimony, tradition is the passing on of the benefits of the lived praxis of our ancestors in the faith, giving to each new generation the fruits of their experience. To disregard it, to deny it, to ridicule it, is to condemn each generation to repeat the mistakes of the past, to which tradition has already given us an answer and a way forward.
Conclusion
Let us hope that God will give our Church leaders true humility. Simplicity of life and modesty are surely a part of humility but let us pray that they may especially be granted a true humility that includes a rediscovery of the beauty and wisdom of tradition. Especially in Rome where authentic examples of the submission of one’s will to that of the Church could ignite a true restoration in the faith --- as opposed to this modern obsession of following new ideas and personal preferences.
