The Beatitudes: The Humble Person’s Moral Compass

St. Augustine, when asked to name the three most important virtues, replied: “humility, humility, humility.” Humility is central to Christianity.

St. Augustine, when asked to name the three most important virtues, replied: “humility, humility, humility.” Humility is central to Christianity. Christians are those who introduce Jesus to the world as its only Saviour by letting His Spirit speak and work through them as members of His Church. This requires giving Jesus, and the sharing of our Faith in Him, the first priority in our life. This requires humility, which isn’t easy since our fallen nature seeks to glorify the ego. The challenge of Christianity, and why it has such a purifying effect on the individual and community, is that it brings us down to earth and gives us the Beatitudes as our moral code.

It’s Hard to Be Humble when You Think You’re Perfect.

It is hard to be humble because pride - Satan’s stock in trade - is so deeply rooted in us that we are easily tempted to let it rule us through our desire to do wrong because it feels good. Three priests, a Dominican, Jesuit and a Carthusian, were discussing what made them unique. The Dominican said his order was the best at preaching, the Jesuit lauded his order’s teaching ability. The Carthusian, scratched his head and lamented that his order wasn’t noted for either teaching or preaching. However, he said that when it came to humility his order surpassed them all.

The humble person feels like a stranger in the present culture of self-absorption and god-complexes. What is humility? It’s the ability to be realistic about who and what we are, namely sinners whom God calls to be saints. We are creatures full of contradictions, possessing strengths and weaknesses, beauty and ugliness, generosity and selfishness, helpful and hurtful, loving and hateful, forgiving and vengeful, independent and needy. Humility means recognising and accepting ourselves as such a mixed bag that we need Jesus and His Church to help us make sure that the positives in us overcome the negatives. Humility is the acceptance of the paradox that it is “in giving we receive” (Lk 6:38; Acts 20:35; 2 Cor 9:6). The humble person is above all a realist, not a defeatist, a globalist, or a megalomaniac. Pride, the opposite of humility, creates an unrealistic and false vision of ourselves by denying what is flawed in us and having delusions of grandeur. Pride keeps us on the emotional level of a 2-year old thinking the world revolves around us and is there to serve us, whereas humility spurs us on to adulthood and the willingness to give without counting the cost.

The Beatitudes Constitute the Moral Code of the Humble

Jesus’ Church proclaims God’s word from the prophet Zephaniah (2:3; 3:12-13), Psalm 146, First Corinthians(1:26-31) and St. Matthew (5:1-12). All stress the need for humility as essential for anyone wanting to experience heavenly joy in this world and completely in Heaven. Jesus is the epitome of the humble person. He always put His Father and His Father’s mission to save mankind before Himself and His own comfort. He is the Man who died so that others might repent, be forgiven and live. To be Christian is to be like Christ, therefore His followers must be men and women willing to give their lives proclaiming Jesus’ mission of salvation to everyone calling them to repent and seek forgiveness in order to live fully and be fully human. Humility is about virtue living, not virtue signalling. To practice humility Jesus taught His Apostles the Beatitudes as their moral code. Only the humble can live the Beatitudes. In the Beatitudes we find the heart of Christianity, what makes Jesus’ Church and her members different from all other religions. Jesus gave His followers Be-attitudes - attitudes that are reflected in living the Christian life. These attitudes are demonstrated in gratitude, comforting the grieving, in meekness, being just, being merciful, having a pure heart, being a peacemaker, willing to embrace martyrdom, and persevere as faithful members of God’s Family here on earth, the Church.

Collaborators with Christ Jesus

The Christian is a member of Jesus’ Church whom He has made His collaborator in His mission to save mankind. The Holy Spirit tells us that as Christians we must, “… seek justice, seek humility …do no wrong and speak no lies .. a deceitful tongue shall not be found in their mouths” ( Zeph 2:3; 3:12-13). What the Lord did, His collaborators must do likewise. “The Lord keeps faith forever, secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets captives free ... gives sight to the blind .. raises up those who are bowed down …loves the just … protects strangers … sustains the fatherless and the widow ... thwarts the wicked …” (Ps 146). This is the ministry of every Christian. People often expect God to miraculously fix all the problems caused by human beings. But they forget that God works through His people. He provides us with all the gifts we need to rise above the ills of our fallen nature. How? By embracing and living the Beatitudes we become the recipients of God’s blessings that bring us happiness. But sadly, we deprive ourselves of the blessings God wants to bestow on us because we lack the necessary humility to believe that what He asks of us He also provides us with the wherewithal to accomplish. Faith in God always makes us humble because we realize that every good thing comes from Him if we are receptive.

God Blesses the Person Who Lives the Beatitudes

The person who lacks humility doesn’t really believe in Jesus Christ and so is won’t to say when asked to live the Beatitudes: “Oh, I could never do that. I’m not strong enough.” But we learn from Paul that, “God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise … the weak to shame the strong … the lowly and despised to reduce to nothing those who are something ….” (1 Cor 1:26-31). The humble person recognizes his or her foolishness, weakness, and lowliness. But he or she also hears God’s call to make His presence felt by striving for justice, freedom, and lifting up those who are bowed down. As someone noted, “Where there’s a will there’s a way, but where there’s no will there ain’t no way!” Humility is the will to place our trust in God’s Spirit that enables us do what would otherwise be impossible and benefit from Jesus’ promise to is that when we live the Beatitudes we will be able to rejoice and be glad for our “…reward in Heaven will be great” (Mt 5:12). Jesus warns us that, “whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Mt 23:12). (fr sean)

Prayer

O Lord, open my eyes that I may see the needs of others,
Open my ears that I may hear their cries,
Open my heart so that they need not be without success.
Let me neither be afraid to defend the weak,
Because of the anger of the strong,
Nor afraid to defend the poor
Because of the anger of the rich.
Show me where love and hope and faith are needed
And use me to bring them to those places.
Open my eyes and ears that I may, this coming day,
Be able to do some work of peace for Thee.

(Alan Paton)