Gazing Upon the Face of Christ - Humility

Humility is not a virtue that one can develop overnight, but it is by contemplating on the Face of Christ as humility that we are aided in our journey to holiness. It is throughout our lifetime that we can perform small acts and demonstrate certain behaviors that lead us to not only have more humility, but to also attain a deeper understanding of it. It is Christ Who helps us to not give up and to keep striving to persevere in the virtue of humility. I recall a quote from Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta that reads, "Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love." I know that it will become habitual for me to always do the small things with great love by keeping focused on Christ, and daily I am striving to choose to do the right small things for others as I can imagine the face of Christ smiling at me with a joyful look in His eyes as I keep taking steps closer and closer to Him. As we continuously choose the “good” over and over again despite any adversity, it becomes habitual and our daily way of living the Christian life.

Saint Augustine in his Confessions says, “Even now after the descent of life to you, do you not wish to ascend and to live? But how can you ascend when you have set yourselves up high and against Heaven? Descend, so that you may ascend to God. For you have fallen by ascending against God”. The only means by which an individual can lessen oneself and climb the ladder of humility is by relinquishing control of self-will, which allows one to become more intimate with God and maintain the role of being a follower of Christ in the world. Again, my goal as is all of our goals is to attain perfect unity with the Triune God and living forever with Him in Heaven. But such is only possible by being purified on earth of our sins and if we cannot be purified here then we will be purified in purgatory. Whether purification is now or happens after our death the fact of the matter is that only those who become completely pure can enter Heaven.

I recall reading a book by Father Benedict Groeschel, the founder of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, and he writes how we need to set ourselves free from the control of the self and become open to the needs of others and by being of service to them as a part of their spiritual journey. An attitude of embracing that everything in life is only about me and adopting certain secular ways and values acts as a constraint or vice preventing us from climbing the ladder to move up the steps of humility. When we make our needs, wants, and concerns of the utmost importance and neglect the needs of others and lack concern for others then God is no longer at the center. We close ourselves from accepting God's grace and our own will is placed before the Will of God. The Love of Jesus Christ must be present in oneself in order to serve the Lord, and in order to have Christ at one’s center one must have the ability to diminish the value of self. We must conscientiously choose to let go of self, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (Jn 3:30 NASB).

We can grow in humility and become closer to Christ by enduring “suffering” or sharing in the Passion of Christ; sharing His Cross and gazing upon the bruised and bloody Face of Christ in complete humility. I know that it as an honor to share the Cross with Christ, and that by letting me share His Cross He is helping me in my humility and purifying me so that I can spend eternity with Him forever in Heaven. I willfully accept the trials and tribulations of life and the humiliations that help me to grow in my spiritual life; where I delight in my sweet cross. I am blessed that my beloved Lord has chosen me to partake in the cup of suffering that unites me with Him and brings me closer and closer to His Sacred Heart. It is by resting upon His chest and listening to the Divine heartbeat that I can learn from His Sacred Heart the virtue of humility.

Letting go of pride can also be deemed as “suffering” because it is human nature to have the desire to partake in actions that prevent God from being at the center of oneself. Because of concupiscence we lean more towards choosing the evil than the good, which means choosing to be prideful over having humility, but we are not hopeless. As with God’s grace I know and have experienced that He helps us to choose the good even when it is difficult, and by choosing the good over and over again it will be easier to choose good over evil. Again, this conscientious effort of choosing the good is work because we need to by our free will make the decision to choose the bad over the good, but it is work that can be done. We need to remember that God is merciful because Jesus gave to us the Sacrament of Confession, and preaches His message of forgiveness, especially in the Lord’s Prayer. He knows that we fail over and over again, but I know that it is that we keep coming back to Him that matters the most.  

In the beautiful sacrament of Reconcilliation that I look upon the Face of Christ as humility because the sacrament is not about my sins; it is all about God’s mercy and forgiveness. It is humility that brings us to Confession and enables us to trust in the Lord’s mercy by confessing our sins to a priest, who is in the Person of Christ, and then receiving absolution. I also gaze upon the Face of Christ as humility when I forgive others; have I not needed forgiveness myself? How many times have I asked for the Lord’s forgiveness and He has always taken me back into His Loving embrace? How can I not treat another in the same way? I cannot cast the first stone as I am a sinner just as the person who has done wrong to me is a sinner. It takes humility to forgive despite how difficult at times it can be to forgive, but I know that if I do not forgive then I am allowing my pride to stand in the way. Since God has not withheld forgiveness from me, I cannot withhold forgiveness from another human being, who is also created in the image and likeness of God. It is still difficult to forgive sometimes, but deep down in my heart I recognize that God is in every person, as His adopted child. We as baptized Christians have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within us, and it is by the beautiful sacrament of Baptism that all of us together become God’s adopted children, which connect us together as members of the Mystical Body of Christ. Who am I to cut off a member of His Body?

God forgives our sins because of His endless Mercy that endures forever and ever, and although it may be difficult, I know that I can also forgive the sins of others. Again, much easier said than done, as I know from experiences in my life that it can be quite difficult to forgive those who hurt us or who will never apologize, or those who will never correct the wrongs that have been committed against us to make things right again. Forgiveness is definitely a grace that we receive from God because I know at times I would not have been able to forgive was it not for God’s tug on my heartstrings and His incredible forgiveness of my own sins that He has shown me time and time again. I know we are all wounded, and these wounds at times can result in grave errors of judgment and not the best actions on our part, but admitting that to ourselves, is really and truly the heart of humility. If we can realize that we have faults and own up to them and take responsibility for them then we can not only better understand ourselves and the virtue of humility, but understand others as well, and help one another on the path to holiness. I have the awareness that although we have different wounds and different sins that we fight against, we are all in this boat together sailing in the turbulent waters, relying completely and totally on the Lord, as we move towards eternal salvation. It is by keeping our gaze upon the Face of Christ that we remain above the water as we recall that it was only when St. Peter took his focus off Christ that he began to sink in the stormy sea. Remember, "God's got this," and with trust and confidence in Christ we will continue on the path to holiness as we grow in the virtue of humility.