With Humility Now Sitting Securely In Our Hearts and Souls We turn To Christmas

We've concluded our little series on humility in preparation for Christmas. Ideally, humility now sits securely within our hearts and souls.

Yeah, right.

Okay, so maybe some of us are indeed infused with the virtue of humility. There must be at least some one out there. But for the rest of us, humility doesn't come from reading about it. And it doesn't come easily.

For most of us, self continually assets its presence. And humility is simply not it's favorite virtue. Even charity can take up some space in the world of self. But humility? That's asking too much.

So for the less-than-humble crew out there, a reminder that there's no better time to turn the mind and heart to the pursuit of humility than Christmas, or more specifically, the Birth of Our Lord.

We all know the story. We know He could have been born under any circumstance, but chose this one - birth in manger, out in the midnight air, having been rebuffed from the warmth and security of an inn.

He chose to give us - right from the get-go - a profound example of humility. 

So humility must be as important as we know it to be, as the Faith of our Fathers and so many spiritual writers throughout the centuries have taught us. But what we know doesn't always translate into how we live. 

And with that, we recollect ourselves a mere 6 days before Christmas, and recall that Birth in Bethlehem, in a manger.

Sure, the sky filled with angels voices trumpeting "Gloria in excelsis Deo" as shepherds watched in wonder. And the Three Wise men would come to lavish gifts upon the little Holy Family.

And yes, we now all set up those lovely Nativity scenes in our homes along with our Christmas trees and - for some - a plethora of other decorations. 

And our homes may be filled with the joyful Christmas music - sacred and secular - that we have come to know and love.

There's nothing like Christmas, eh?

But lying silently beneath it all, if we but open our hearts and minds, we find humility. The Example Our Lord gave us must not go unheeded. 

Every year, He grants us another opportunity to embrace humility. With His grace we can again and again cast self out the front door - even as it returns like a critter breaching our homes and thumping about in the attic (something we've recently encountered!).

Even as self seethes with resentment over our never-ending struggle to squelch it, we pay no attention and boldly beg the grace to prevail over self and "once-and-for-all" embrace humility.

Of course, "once and for all" may never be granted us. The struggle may continue until Sister Death comes to call. But if that's God's Will, so be it. He knows best, and if He deems us worthy to heroically struggle against self, and seek humility again and again, with seemingly endless falling and failing, so be it. 

It's simply His way of helping us to grow closer to Him, ultimately to be a saint. He know us better than we know ourselves, and knows the best path for each of us.

Meanwhile, on our end, we can envision the Birth of Our Lord in the manger in Bethlehem with a sincere intention for an increase of humility.

And we can cry out, albeit silently and in the depths of our soul:

 

Divine Infant of Bethlehem, come and take birth in our Hearts!