A sower went out to sow....

There is a prayer that is a difficult prayer to pray. It is called the Litany of Humility. The prayer says:

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being honored, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being praised, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being approved, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being despised, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected, deliver me, Jesus.

The second part of the prayer is even more difficult to pray:

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, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may increase and I may decrease,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I unnoticed,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should...

This litany of humility was prayed by Merry Cardinal del Val (1865-1930), Secretary of State to Pope Saint Pius X. I am sure you will agree that it is a difficult prayer to pray if we really mean it. I was reminded of this prayer by Jesus’ criticism of the Pharisees in the Gospel (Luke 11: 43).

Jesus criticized the Pharisees for many reasons, and one of those reasons was wanting to be better than everybody else in public. There is a little bit of the Pharisees in each of us, perhaps more in some than others. So the Gospel is relevant for each of us.

In his letter to the Romans (2: 1-11), Paul reminds us all that we are sinners. Here is the foundation stone of humility. The first thing all Christian must do is to accept the truth that they are sinners and repent. Without this, we will be unable to take the first steps in growing our talents and gifts. We will be powerless for the Kingdom of God because we are unwilling to submit ourselves to the humbling process of repentance.

Humility is closely allied with the truth. The two go together and one does not develop without a commitment to the other. This is one of the reasons why we will always see that truly humble people are also people who are committed to the truth and are willing to undergo all sorts of humiliation in order to submit their lives to the truth that they believe.

Humility also demands that we committed to spending our lives in the service of others. The humble person will allow themselves to be served by others but he or she will also be actively seeking ways and means of serving as well. If you are in a room of humble people, it is the least important jobs that will always be done first. In his letter to the Romans Paul exhorts us to outdo one another in showing love. I think the same could be said for humility.