Humility of Heart Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo Translation by Herbert Cardinal Vaughn, Archbishop of Westminister, England 1903 TAN BOOKS AND PUBLISHERS Thoughts
and Sentiments on Humility
Part 16 69.
The true reason for which God bestows so many graces upon the humble is
this, that the humble are faithful to these graces and make good use of
them. They receive them from God, and use them in a manner pleasing to
God, giving all the glory to Him without reserving any for themselves.
This is like the faithful steward who appropriates nothing that belongs
to his master; and thus deserves that praise and reward given to the
fai thful servant mentioned in the Gospel: "Well done, thou good and
faithful servant,because thou hast been faithful over a few things I
will place thee over many things." [Matt. xxv, 21] O
Lord, Thou seest all my thefts and I am overwhelmed with
astonishment that Thou dost still trust me! Considering my
unfaithfulness I am not worthy of the smallest grace, but make me
humble and I shall also be faithful. It
is certainly true that he who is humble is also faithful to God;
because the humble man is also just in giving to all their due, and
above all in rendering to God the things that are God's, that is, in
giving Him the glory for all the good that he is, all the good that he
has and for all the good that he does; as the Venerable Bede says:
"Whatever good we see in ourselves let us ascribe it to God and not to
ourselves." [
Apud D. Th. in Cat. to 5] 70.
To give thanks to God for all the blessings we have received and
are continually receiving is an excellent means of exercising humility,
because by thanksgiving we learn to acknowledge the Supreme Giver of
every good: and for this reason it is necessary for us always to be
humble before God. St. Paul exhorts us to render thanks for all things
and at all times: "In all things give thanks"; [1 Thess. v, 18] "Giving thanks
always
for all things." [Ephes. v, 20] But that our
thanksgiving may be an act of humility
it must not only come from the lips but from the heart with a firm
conviction that all good comes to us through the infinite mercy of God.
Look at a beggar who has received a considerable gift from a rich man,
with what warmth he expresses his gratitude! He is astonished that the
rich man should have deigned to bestow a gift upon him, protesting that
he is unworthy of it, and that he receives it, not through hisown
merit, but through the noble kindness of the giver, to whom he will
always be most grateful. He speaks from his heart because he knows his
own miserable condition of poverty and the benign condescension of the
rich man. And should the thanks we give to God be less than the thanks
which are given from man to man? When one man can thus thank another,
ought we not to blush with shame that there should be men who feel more
humility of heart towards their fellow-men than we do towards God? O
my God, I thank Thee with all my heart for these benefits which I
have received through Thy goodness alone, which I have not deserved and
for which I have never given Thee thanks till now! It was through pride
that I failed to give Thee the thanks due to Thee, and it is through
pride that I have enjoyed all Thy gifts as if I had not received them
at Thy hands. I detest my pride, and with Thy help I will remember to
give Thee thanks at all times and for all things: "I will bless the
Lord at all times," [
Ps. xxxiii, 1] praise, bless and
thank Thee for all Thy
mercies for ever and ever: "The mercies of the Lord I will sing for
ever." [Ps. lxxxviii, 1] We
ought to apply our Saviour's sayings to ourselves: "Thou blind
Pharisee, first make clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, that
the outside may become clean," [Matt. xxiii, 6] and learn from the
teaching of St.
Thomas that "from our interior disposition of humility proceed signs in
words, deed and manner by which that is manifested without, which is
within." [2a 2æ, qu. clxi, art. 6] 72. We often lament that we are unable to pray because of the many distractions which hinder our recollection and dry up the source of devotion in our hearts, but in this we err and do not know what we are saying. The best prayer is not that in which we are most recollected and fervent, but that in which we are most humble; because it is written: "The prayer of him that humbleth himself shall pierce the clouds." [Ecclus. xxxv, 21] And what distractionsof mind and heart can prevent our exercising humility? It is precisely in those moments when we feel irritable and tepid that we ought to show our humility, and how? By saying: O Lord, I am not worthy to remain here speaking to Thee so confidentially, I do not deserve the grace of prayer because it is a special gift which Thou bestowest upon those dear to Thee. It is enough for me to be Thy servant, chasing away my distractions as so many flies. For flies do not fly round boiling water, but only round tepid water, and all these distractions arise from mygreat tepidity. Ah,what an excellent prayer! So prayed Joshua, and the Lord heard his prayer: "Thou hast humbled thyself in the sight of God; I also have heard thee, saith the l.ord." [2 Paral. xxxiv, 27] So prayed King David too in the anguish of his soul and was delivered: "I was humbled and He delivered me." [Ps. cxiv, 6] The more the soul exalts itself and takes pleasure in its own meditation, so much the more does God exalt Himself above that soul and remains apart from it. "Man shall come to a deep heart and God shall be exalted." [Ps. lxiii, 8] Do we desire that God in His mercy should come nigh to us? Let us humble ourselves. "Dost thou wish God to draw near to thee?" says St. Augustine, "humble thyself, for the more thou raisest thyself, the more will He be above thee." [Enarr. in Ps. cxli] 73. Many people, when preparing for confession, distress themselves because they do not feel sufficient contrition for their sins; and in order to obtain it they beat their breasts to try and excite themselves to feelings of sorrow. But this is pride, for they give us to understand that they can thus obtain contrition of themselves. You desire true sorrow for you sins? Then be assured that this is a singular gift of God, and that to obtain it there is no better means than to humble oneself before Him.
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