Live 4 The LORD

“Humility, however deep it may be, neither disquiets nor troubles nor disturbs the soul; it is accompanied by peace, joy, and tranquillity . . . it enlarges it and makes it fit to serve God better.” On the contrary, the devil’s humility “only disturbs and upsets the mind and troubles the soul, so grievous is it. I think the devil is anxious for us to believe that we are humble, and, if he can, to lead us to distrust God.” (Way 39: 2). Lack of trust and anxiety lessen our capacity to love; the devil’s purpose is precisely to draw us away from the path of love. He especially tempts in this way those who would never yield to open temptations to sin. In such a case our reaction should be to remember, as St. Therese of the Child Jesus teaches, that “what offends Jesus, what wounds his heart, is want of trust” (Let 71). A lack of trust in God’s mercy, even after serious falls, is never an indication of true humility, but rather of insidious pride and diabolical temptation. Had Judas been humble, instead of giving way to despair, he would have known, like Peter, how to beg forgiveness and to bewail his sins. Humility is the virtue that puts man in his proper place before God, which is that of a son, a weak and wretched one, yes, but one full of trust. When, after so many good resolutions, a soul find itself continuing to fall into the same faults, and after many more attempts still does not succeed in overcoming certain defects, it should humble itself, rather than be angry with itself. St. Teresa of Jesus says that “humility is the ointment for our wounds” (IC III 2: 7). God let us experience our weakness precisely to give us a keener awareness of our indigence, so that we may be stripped of all presumptuous confidence in self, and turn to him with greater humility and trust.