Starting 2024 The Same Way We Began The New Liturgical Year

As our New Year of 2024 gains traction, let's grab some of that good stuff from the beginning of the new Liturgical Year.Let''s start 2024 the same way we began the new Liturgical Year.

Remember? The Liturgical Year began on the 1st Sunday of Advent, as it does every year. Our focus then was the virtue of humility. Our posts throughout most of Advent were concerned with this most important virtue. Ideally, some of what we meditated on stuck to our spiritual ribs.

Now, with out hearts and souls tenderized by those initial meditations, we come to the secular New Year. Some of us made resolutions. Maybe a physical one: lose weight; gain strength, etc. Maybe a spiritual one: say the rosary ever day, stop uncharitable thoughts about others, etc.

For those of us who don't make such resolutions, or even for those who do, we'll throw out something from St. Ignatius of Loyola that will challenge each of us in some way to some degree. It's from his Spiritual Exercises, actually a kind of culmination of those venerable exercises that have changed or at least improved the lives of so many through the centuries.

Having worked on our humility throughout Advent, it won't hurt to pick up that effort again. Those of us who could use more of this most important virtue can frankly do with a more steady effort to grow it throughout the year. (Count me in.) And what better teacher than St. Ignatius to provide a unique insight into this venerable virtue.

First Humility. The first manner of Humility is necessary for eternal salvation; namely, that I so lower and so humble myself, as much as is possible to me, that in everything I obey the law of God, so that, even if they made me lord of all the created things in this world, nor for my own temporal life, I would not consent to breaking a Commandment, whether Divine or human, which binds me under mortal sin.

Second Humility. The second is more perfect Humility than the first; namely, if I find myself at such a stage that I do not want, and feel no inclination to have, riches rather than poverty, to want honor rather than dishonor, to desire a long rather than a short life – provided only in each alternative I would promote equally the service of God our Lord and the salvation of my soul; and so not for all creation, nor because they would take away my life, would I consent to committing a venial sin.

Third Humility. The third is most perfect Humility; namely, when – presuming the first and second degree are already attained, and the praise and glory of the Divine Majesty being equally served – in order to imitate and be more actually like Christ our Lord, I want and choose poverty with Christ poor rather than riches, opprobrium with Christ replete with it rather than honors; and to desire to be rated as worthless and a fool for Christ, Who first was held as such, rather than wise or prudent in this world.

For those of us who work for a living, especially if we're in a competitive industry and a competitive workplace, humility in the workplace can be a real challenge. We're logically wanting to show our worth. We reasonably want to counter any false impressions of us that demean our work or our character. We certainly need to earn a decent living for the sake of our families. So we'll need to think about St. Ignatius's words, meditate on them, and come to our own conclusions about how they can be applied in our individual circumstance. 

But they can and must be applied. Just rely on the the light of the Holy Spirit with a dollop of the virtue of prudence to sort through all this. 

In any case, don't dismiss the full and rich humility that St. Ignatius describes here.

2024 will continue with our spiritual lives strengthened, without any diminished performance of our duties. Trust in God's grace to help us to find our way here.