“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.” (Mt. 11:29) The Gospels recount several instances in which Jesus calls his disciples to follow him, but only this invitation from the Gospel of Matthew specifies a particular virtue which is so distinctive of his heart. Humility, Jesus indicates, is absolutely essential for those who wish to imitate him.

Humility is also the virtue opposed to the capital sin of pride, which is the deadliest of all sins because it is at the heart of all other sins. It was the sin of Lucifer. It was the sin of Adam and Eve. Simply put, pride is an immoderate desire for excellence, a disordered love of self.

Seriousness of pride

This sin is so pervasive and destructive that it is the first thing addressed by the Ten Commandments: “I am the Lord your God … You shall not have other gods beside me.” (Ex. 20:2-3) In other words, we are not to place anything – including ourselves – above God.

But pride does just that. It grasps at divinity. Lucifer, who was the highest of all the angels, grasped at equality with God – the one thing he lacked and the one thing that would forever elude his reach. As a result, he was cast out of heaven. Similarly, the serpent convinced our first parents that though they lived in abundance and walked with God in the garden, they lacked the one thing that was truly worth having – and this prized fruit was within their grasp and theirs for the taking. Of course, they seized only death as paradise was lost.

Pride is essentially thinking that we are greater than we are. In this way, it is a denial of reality. The prideful self stands in stark opposition to the rightly ordered self, made by Love for love.

Self-emptying as the solution

Pride blinds us to the fact that the one thing we truly need is the one thing that is beyond our grasp: Love. Jesus, who is Love, teaches us that if we are to have life and have it more abundantly, we must live as he did. In other words, we must love – and we do this by practicing “kenosis,” or the self-emptying attitude which does not seek to exalt itself but rather empties itself in order to serve God and others. St. Paul describes Jesus’ “kenosis” in his Letter to the Philippians: Jesus, “though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.” (2:6-8) In other words, we must turn from pride and its perceived self-reliance to the self-emptying attitude of Christ.

Kenosis and the virtue of humility go hand-in-hand. Humility enables us to live in the truth, recognizing who God is and who we are in relation to God – creatures and sinners. Consequently, the humble person attributes any good he or she does to God and relies fully on God.

A warning label

However, there is the danger that the prideful self will use our desire to be humble in the hopes of being like Christ to elevate and expand itself. In other words, we can, unfortunately, become proud of our efforts to become humble.

In reality, the truly humble person will not even be aware of his humility because it will be no longer he who lives but Christ who lives in him (cf. Gal 2:20). Completely focused on loving God and following his commandments, the truly humble person has no need to broadcast his or her humility.

When it comes to humility, we find ourselves dependent on the mercy of God. Once we have seen the truth of this, we have but to consent to this dependence on God for everything. Our “yes” to this reality positions us again to be penetrated by the Spirit of Christ, who perfectly exemplifies true meekness and humility. Our consent establishes the proper order that is the fruit of humility by truthfully revealing who we are, where we stand and where we are going.

Pray for humility

In order to obtain humility, we need to ask God for it – and to be willing to accept humiliations when they come. The Litany of Humility is a prayer usually attributed to Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val (1865-1930), whose cause for canonization is under way. If we pray the litany with sincerity, God will not refuse us an increase of this indispensable virtue.

Litany of Humility

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, Hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being loved, Deliver…

From the desire of being extolled, Deliver…

From the desire of being honored, Deliver…

From the desire of being praised, Deliver…

From the desire of being preferred to others, Deliver…

From the desire of being consulted, Deliver…

From the desire of being approved, Deliver…

From the fear of being humiliated, Deliver…

From the fear of being despised, Deliver…

From the fear of suffering rebukes, Deliver…

From the fear of being calumniated, Deliver…

From the fear of being forgotten, Deliver…

From the fear of being ridiculed, Deliver…

From the fear of being wronged, Deliver…

From the fear of being suspected, Deliver…

That others may be loved more than I,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I,

Jesus…

That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease,

Jesus…

That others may be chosen and I set aside,

Jesus…

That others may be praised and I go unnoticed,

Jesus…

That others may be preferred to me in everything,

Jesus…

That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should,

Jesus…