Thought for the Day – 10 June – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)
HUMILITY
Meditations for a Month
Humility in Conversation
Our Lord tells us that by our words we shall be justified, by our words we shall be condemned and from our words, can be clearly seen whether we are humble or proud.
The proud man always wants to take the lead in the conversation and to lay down the law for the benefit of the rest. The humble man is content to be in the background. The proud man is vexed if he is not listened to, while the humble man is ready to accept such disregard, with peaceful resignation, as a humiliation he welcomes from the Hand of God.
On these points, do I exhibit marks of pride or of humility?
There is, moreover, in the conversation of the proud an undercurrent of self-praise. They talk chiefly about themselves and what they have said and done and, in a tone of boastfulness, more or less, thinly veiled.
The humble seem to forget themselves; they consider what is interesting to
those to whom they speak and they do this because, for God’s sake, they seek to please others rather than themselves.
Try to cultivate this humility in conversation. It will make you loved by
God and by men.
We perceive the contrast between humility and pride, most clearly, when some rebuff is given. See the meekness of the one and the indignation of the other; the patience of the one and the eagerness of the other to assert himself and prove himself in the right.
In this respect, we shall do well to contemplate the perfect humility of the Holy Mother of God at the marriage feast at Cana. In answer to the apparent rebuke which she received from her Son, she uttered not a word of self-justification but an instruction to the servants, to be exact in their obedience to Jesus.
AnaStpaul 