All of our prayer, our love, our work must be rooted in this knowledge of who we are. God IS. We are not.
The Truth
Why are people drawn to church on Ash Wednesday? I would like to believe that even amongst the din of modern culture, the tempation to pride, and the silencing of conscience, there remains something in us that remembers who we are. We acknowledge the great dignity we were created for… and how far we fall from that height.
One of the options for the words we hear as the ashes are traced on our forehead are the reminder, “Remember, man, you are dust and to dust you will return.” This is a vivid reminder, of course, of our mortality. We begin this 40 days with a call to repentance and a reminder of our sinfulness and unworthiness. And we spend the next six weeks in a type of boot camp to help us detach from the preoccupations of this life and live fully for the next.
Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. This call on Ash Wednesday is the call to humility. No matter who you are–whether you’re the richest man in the world or the poorest, whether you are a king or the Pope or a normal guy just trying to get by in this world–we all have the same end. Dust.
That shouldn’t discourage us or scare us. Rather, this reminder of who we are should set us back on track! St. Catherine of Siena grounded everything in this self-knowledge. All of our prayer, our love, our work must be rooted in this knowledge of who we are. God IS. We are not.
We are dust. I am undeserving of the incredible mercy, love, and goodness of God. Humility recognizes that what is good does not come from us, but from God. Humility is grounded in truth, recognizing that we deserve nothing but yet have been given incredible dignity.
The opposite of humility is pride. It is the “excessive love of one’s own excellence.” It forgets who we are!
After all, when it comes down to it, everything excellent in my life is not from me. It is not mine. It is God’s. Pride is an “inordinate self-love” that actually puts us in opposition to God. Think of that original sin of the devil. In his pride, he set himself up in competition with God, rather than accepting the truth (and dignity!) of who he was created to be.
Examine
When we stop to look at our lives, do we see pride at work there?
- Do I rank myself better than others or demand certain treatment because of my “status”?
- Do I dwell on the failings of others? Do I judge others, in my thoughts or words?
- Do I refuse to listen to others or reject their opinions, especially when they disagree with me? Am I stubborn? Do I always assume I’m right, or refuse to accept that another person has a better idea?
We often think of the proud person as the vain person, who is haughty and arrogant and thinks themselves better than everyone else. And this is true. But sometimes pride is hidden, too.
The person who wallows in self-pity, who resents others? That’s based in pride. The timid person who is frozen and never acts because they’re worried about what people think? That is pride.
The scrupulous person who is so fixated on their sin and so discouraged, they think they are unforgivable? That’s pride. Francis de Sales reminds us, “Therefore when your heart has fallen raise it gently, humbling yourself greatly before God, and acknowledging your fault, but without marveling at your fall; since it is not marvel that infirmity should be infirm, weakness weak, and frailty frail.”
Eradicate
How can we fight the sin of pride?
- Practice the art of gratitude – towards God and your neighbor. During your prayer time, think about your day and note everything you have to be grateful for – beginning with thanking God with the fact that you woke up this morning. That the person in traffic let you merge. That your colleague helped you with that project. That you had food to eat for dinner.
- Dedicate time this week to both spiritual reading and study of the Faith. Spiritual reading helps us to look to others for help in the spiritual life rather than relying on our own opinions or thoughts. And study helps us realize how deep the Faith is and how little we know!
- Pay closer attention to how you treat the ideas of your spouse, your children, and your coworkers. Are you open to their thoughts, plans, and suggestions?
This week, let’s begin to root out the sin of pride in our lives. But it’s prideful to think we’re going to do it alone. We need God’s help. So ask for it.
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