Weekly Virtue: Humility

Weekly Virtue: Humility

Welcome to the last week of Advent. We are approaching the birth of Christ. This week's virtue is Humility. Let us all enter the coming of Christ as humble individuals aware of our faults and imperfections.

Humility is the quality of being humble. In a religious context this can mean a recognition of self in relation to God , acceptance of one's defects, and submission to divine grace as a member of a religion.

Outside of a religious context, humility is defined as the self-restraint from excessive vanity, and can possess moral and/or ethical dimensions.

The Gospel this weeks talks of Joseph. What an amazing man! Joseph was engaged to a young girl and about to marry her. And she became pregnant. Joseph, being a man of great humility, did not want to embarrass Mary. To the outside eye, Mary had broken her promises to him and became pregnant. And what was Joseph's response? He did not act out of anger or judgment. He took it to God. He fell to his knees and prayed for the right answer, for guidance and direction. And God answered him. Joseph was humble and knew he was only a man and knew not how to solve this situation on his own. He turned to God and was granted answers.

Let us all take notes from Joseph. Let us all stop and give our problems to God before we act. Emotions run high this time of year, and many times we are hurt or hurt others without meaning to. Let us be humble this season and not be so quick to know we are right while others are wrong. Let us not defend ourselves before we take a second to think where the other is coming from. Let us not pass judgment or act out of anger before we stop and say a prayer to God for guidance and direction on how to handle a situation. And most of all let us put Jesus before all else!

Christmas falls on a Sunday this year. I was discussing with my husband about when we should go to Christmas mass. The truth of my life is that my husband and I see the world completely differently. We hardly ever see things the same way. I of course had the perfect answer as to when to attend Christmas mass. Christmas eve at 6:00 pm would be perfect. We could get dressed up and go to mass, and come home, go to sleep and wake up Christmas morning and not have to leave the house. My husbands response was, we are going to go first thing (7:30 am) Christmas morning. How could my husband not see this was not the right answer? How could he not see that my way was the better way? Did he not understand that the kids would want to open gifts and be ready for Santa? And then I stopped and listened to what he was saying (and what I was saying). He wants to wake up and start the day giving thanks to God for putting Jesus in our lives. He wants to show the Lord that He comes before Santa. He wants to show our children the reason for the season. How humble I felt when I realized my blindness. This was the perfect answer. Why would I not want to start Christmas any other way than showing Christ my love for him?

Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas! May your day be full of Christ!