St. Augustine wrote: "If you should ask me what are the ways of God, I would tell you that the first is humility, the second is humility, and the third is humility. Not that there are no other precepts to give, but if humility does not precede all that we do, our efforts are fruitless." Mind you, Augustine had spent 30 years chasing after power, fame, and honor. He had searched for the place of honor at the table. After his conversion, he acknowledges that the way that leads to heaven is built on humility.

The word humility comes from the Latin word humus which means "ground, soil, or dust". Thus by being humble, we acknowledge what we are. We are dust and to dust we shall return. We are like clay formed by the hand of our Creator. Without God, we are just humus which is good for nothing.

God is the Giver of every good gift. If we agree that everything we have is given to us by God, we have no reason to be prideful. We have all the reasons for being grateful and humble.

Opposite to humility is pride. It is the first on the list of the seven deadly sins. At the heart of every sin is pride. Being prideful is to have a false understanding of oneself and others. Being prideful, people forget who they are. They forget that they are God's creatures. They forget that they are made from humus. Being prideful, they put someone or something in God's place. Even worse they think we are gods. They think they achieve everything by themselves and thus they do not need God.

St. Augustine says: "It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels". Satan was "at first a good angel, made by God." He has sinned from the beginning by refusing "to serve God and His plan" (CCC #391; 414). Being a creature himself, Satan wanted to be equal to God. Not only sinning himself, he tempted the first parents to sin with him. He convinced Eve to eat from the forbidden tree, saying: "You certainly will not die! God knows well that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know good and evil." The first sin committed by human beings is rooted in pride: they want to be equal to God.

Our Lord Jesus has lived a life of humility. Being the Lord of lords and King of kings, He emptied Himself to be born as a man. He often accompanied the outcast, the sinners, the lepers, and the poor. At the Last Supper, our Lord knelt down to wash the feet of his disciples, taking to Himself the job of a servant. He suffered and died the most humiliating death. He did all of these out of love.

Jesus tells us to seek the lowest place at a banquet because the humble will be exalted. He also tells us to "invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind" to our table. In the kingdom of God, we will share a table with the same people: the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. If we think they do not deserve to share the table with us on earth, we may not deserve to be with them in heaven.

"For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,
but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

Fr. Vincent Homily, September 2, 2019