A Statement of Purpose

It is very difficult to write about humility.  It can be seen as oxymoronic to discuss a personal virtue whose very essence involves not drawing attention to the self.  Nevertheless, I think this is a subject that does bear special attention. There are various recent events in my life that have caused me to think more and more about this virtue.

One such "event" is an article that I read some time ago about a subject which deeply disturbed me at the time. The article was about what happens when good and faithful Catholics choose to get divorced, despite the teachings of the Church on the subject.  Although I don't remember the source and haven't been able to find it again, this piece really struck a chord with me. The gist of the article was that many Catholics who desired to be faithful to the teachings of the Church somehow found themselves in a position where their marriages were not working out. There was some kind of overwhelming feeling that things had gone wrong, and this feeling led these otherwise faithful Catholics to doubt the validity of their own marital vows. Although retaining their beliefs that divorce is and should be an impossibility, these couples sought annulments from the Church on the basis that if they were truly married they wouldn't feel this way.

My purpose in this post is not to disparage any of the individuals involved:  the writer of the article, the husbands and wives, or anyone who might feel a sense of sympathy for the position that these people find themselves in.  My point is simply to analyze and consider the basic idea represented by these couples' core reasoning. What they are essentially saying is, "Good and faithful Catholics will never feel a sense of disconnection from their spouses, at least not in the long-term.  I am a faithful Catholic, and if that is how I feel, there must have never been a marriage here in the first place." It is my contention that this reasoning process is fundamentally flawed.  The first premise makes an assumption about what life should and will be like for a faithful Catholic. This assumption simply isn't born out by the lives of the saints, to whom we look for guidance in this life.

If God the Father sent Jesus down among us to take up a cross, endure physical torment and ridicule, open himself to betrayal by his closest friends, and ultimately die in agony with his hands and feet nailed in place on behalf of all of us, why should we--we who are trying to be his disciples--not be asked to suffer in ways we may not have ever expected?  If we close our minds to such possibilities, I would say that what we lack is the gift of humility. Humility pierces through the illusions we create of who and what we should be so that God can come in and ultimately and authentically glorify our lives.

The purpose of these reflections is to explore the idea of humility seen in this more ultimate light.  Who and what we are must go through a great transformation if we hope to live lives of meaning that are directed toward the peace that only God can give.  What we feel we can and cannot accept depends greatly on our perception of ourselves.  It should depend much more on what we perceive about our Lord and ourselves as an instrument of Him.