THE P RTAL
June 2014
Page 22
Humility
in today’s society:
Something that is very much needed
Let us take our inspiration from St Benedict and not
misunderstand the concept as recommended by Donato Tallo
One word
that comes to mind concerning Pope Francis is humility, but St Benedict, the Father of
Western Monasticism, wrote, “It is hard to be humble”. Humility comes from within the soul. It can help
bring us closer to God and to those around us and make us more stable and well-formed individuals.
It has never been more
important for Christians, and
indeed all people, to seek to be
truly humble. St Benedict and
his Rule can inspire us; following
him the Christian faith can be
put into action in a way that is
genuine and much needed in
today’s society.
The virtue of humility must
not be misunderstood or
misinterpreted and we must
avoid being falsely “’umble” like
David Copperfield’s Uriah Heap;
we must seek to be humble by
opening our hearts to the true
meaning of humility and, as St
Benedict says, “Keeping the fear of God before our eyes
in all that we do”.
humility and mission
St Benedict dedicated the entire seventh chapter of his
rule to the concept of humility and it has a great deal to
teach us and when considering the concept of mission
and living the faith of the church. Humility is the basis
for an effective faith lived out in daily life. While each
of St Benedict’s twelve steps of humility has a strong
message of their own, the second step in particular
is quite a striking one, being of great importance in
today’s society which is so full of consumerism, family
breakdowns, celebrity culture, social media, vanity
and many other problems and challenges.
St Benedict’s second step of humility is based on the
Lord’s saying: “I have not come to do my own will but the
will of him who sent me” (John 6:38), and suggests that
we should not love our own desires or take pleasure
in them but should model ourselves around the above
contents page
saying of Our Lord, which is not
an easy thing to do.
closer to Christ
I am not suggesting that we
all need to seek to live monastic
lives, but the concept of humility
as explored by St Benedict has
so much to tell us, especially
if we are ca