Humility

Humility how to approach itIn this catechesis, let us look at what helps us to grow in humility.

No surprise – first aid is prayer. Fulton Sheen said that only the humble can pray because prayer assumes that we need someone and something. There are two great truths to know in life. The first is God and the second is that I am not Him. We thought humility means seeing ourselves as God sees me. Therefore, let us try to contemplate Christ’s view, which is fixed on me. Let’s see him look at the rich young man, the woman at the well, Peter, who denied. No thought, no word, nothing hidden. His gaze penetrates everything. He knows us better than ourselves. Before that look we are empty, revealed, broken. And yet it is a loving, receiving, inviting look. Such meditation helps our humility. The Lord sees me without tinsel, without makeup. He sees me dying, weak, sick, helpless, worried. There’s no point in trying to impress him. He sees his gaze directly through us. Isn’t a parent happy when a child comes to him truthfully, in his nakedness, in sincerity and without pretense? And how does a parent look at him then?

Another help is regular honest confession. Accepting the state of our sinfulness without embellishment, without excuses and relinquishing responsibility is in itself an act of humility. And if we accept that our sins are constantly repeating and there are some that we will not get rid of in life …

Open to criticism. A sign of good friendship is when we are able to hear things from a friend that we need to hear, but we would prefer not to hear. This is probably a bold idea, but let us ask someone to criticize us regularly. I admit, it is an idea taken from the book I draw from. I’ve never tried it myself, and I’m not even sure I can handle it. Probably some heroism in this respect is meaningless. Rather slow to start. First, accept that someone is angry with me and I have no idea why. Not having a tendency to get involved right away, solve it right away, because I have to know what I failed to do to fix it. Because in this case I deal with myself and do not help others, I just make him more aggravated. So let’s take the first step of criticism – I don’t have to like everyone. Then let’s continue to question conscience – did I give a reason for this? What did I contribute to it? But the questioning of conscience should be humble, that is true. Not drilling in yourself and self-blame, or self-justification, but searching for the truth. So, we are not looking for the culprit (in which you are to blame and in me), but in search of the truth. Perhaps after this attunement, we will have the humility to stand before another and receive what he wants to tell us.

Learn to accept the place we are. A person is usually satisfied with his salary, his position until he begins to compare himself. But as soon as I realize that the other person, who is not even half as good as myself, who is not as bothered as half and is not as loyal as me … . Humility in this area means accepting that for all my life I will have the status I have, the housing I have, the wife I have. what I have, where I am.

Attention, I do not want to say that we cannot crave change. Of course, there is no problem if one wants to grow, have something new and better. He just must not tie his luck to it. I will be happy to achieve this. It would be good to have, but even if it fails, nothing happens because I can live like this.

This is related to the willingness to accept the truth that I do not have something. I cannot solve the problem, I have no answer to the question, I cannot satisfy the wishes of my neighbors, I cannot accept the task, I am not on time to come. Learning to say no is also a school of humility. For I accept my limits and give space to others, and especially give space to God to do.

Finally, there is another advice: Be honest. We often try to look better than we really are through subtle tricks. “The morning was a terrible constipation” – it is a good excuse that we did not want to get up, or we do not see the purpose of the meeting and therefore we prefer to come late. Of course we do not have to repent and hang everything on everyone’s nose. But sometimes it’s really enough to say, “I’m sorry I’m late.”

Am I sincere in my prayer to God? Will I allow him to look at my shadows too?
Can I live with the knowledge that he always sees me in every situation?
What does my holy confession look like? How often do I access it?
What could help me handle criticism better?
To whom do I trust that I can accept criticism from him? Do I have the courage to ask him to?
Am I happy where I am? Do I not tie my luck to any future success?
How do I feel to say no?
I use subtle tricks to embellish myself