Father Jean-Pierre Médaille’s Maxim #14: “Be humble, since whatever you have, whatever you are, or whatever you do for yourself or others proceeds from the pure mercy and infinite condescension of God. You would make yourself unworthy of this, and also of God’s grace which is essential, unless you were humble in every way.”
This Maxim is meaningful for me in the following way: I think the word “humility” has been misunderstood. It doesn’t mean I go around with my head down looking for ways to lower myself in my own opinion or others’ opinions. It doesn’t mean hiding my gifts from others.
What being humble means to me is always being aware that whatever gifts I have, whatever I can do for others, comes from the grace of my Creator, God. To be aware that my entire life and being is from God, in God, and for God.
It means that when I achieve something good that I acknowledge the source of this goodness is from God who dwells at the centre of my Being. An example of this is my poetry. When I write, I feel as if the words are not really mine but come from a source within, and I am merely the vessel to convey the message.
By Ellen Popkie, CSJ Associate, Holy Family Community
