Pride Goeth Before Destruction ~ Celebrate Humility

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Recall, Christians, what Sacred Scripture declareth: 

"Pride goeth before destruction: and the spirit is lifted up before a fall." [Proverbs 16:18]

And also:

"Pride is the beginning of all sin. He that holdeth it, shall be filled with maledictions, and it shall ruin him in the end." [Ecclesiasticus, 10:15]

Pride is numbered in the Catholic Catechism among the Seven Deadly Sins [CCC 1866]. Writing in the early Seventh Century AD, Pope Saint Gregory the Great reflected on the sin of pride in his epochal Moralia in Job, saying:  

"Whoever extols himself above his proper condition, is weighed down by the very burden of his pride, and plunges himself the lower, the more he has rushed into the sin of pride, and has separated himself far from Him Who is truly exalted... [Moralia in Job, Book XXIV, Chapter 3]

Not surprisingly, Gregory recognized the link between pride and all the other sins, including fornication, saying:  

"And it is certain that there is not even genuine chastity in the heart of him who lacks humility, since by pride corrupting him within he commits fornication, if from loving himself he departs from the love of God. [Moralia in Job, Book XXII, Chapter 2]

As a remedy to this awful sin, St. Gregory proposes:

"Wherefore the sin of pride must be cut up at once by the very roots, that when it springs up secretly it may be cut off vigilantly, so that it may not gain vigor by growth, or strength by habit." [Moralia in Job, Book XXIV, Chapter 23]

Thus, we should never celebrate pride. Furthermore, we should never present pride as something acceptable or remarkable when teaching our children. 

Rather, Christians are enjoined to reflect on humility.

"The fruit of humility is the fear of the Lord, riches and glory and life." [Proverbs 22:4]

Even though he was God incarnate, Jesus of Nazareth was never puffed up with pride, but was rather an exemplar of humility. The image above is taken from a scene in the Gospel of Saint John [Chapter 13] where, after the Last Supper, Jesus washes the feet of the Apostles:

"He riseth from supper, and layeth aside His garments, and having taken a towel, girded Himself. After that, He putteth water into a basin, and began to wash the feet of the disciples, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded."

When Saint Peter objected to Jesus humbling himself, Our Lord cautioned him, saying:

"If I wash thee not, thou shalt have no part with me."

Peter responded, saying: 

"Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head."

Jesus then explained to His Apostles that if they wish to be the leaders of His Church, they must first become servants.

"Know you what I have done to you? You call me Master, and Lord; and you say well, for so I am. If then I being your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so you do also. Amen, amen I say to you: The servant is not greater than his lord; neither is the apostle greater than he that sent him. If you know these things, you shall be blessed if you do them." [John 13:13-17]

Gregory the Great in his Moralia in Job, calls humility "the mistress and mother of all virtues [Moralia in Job, Book XXIII, Chapter 13]," and offers contrite confession of sins as the hallmark of humility:

"For these are the proofs of true humility, both for a man to ascertain his own wickedness, and on being ascertained to discover it by the voice of confession."

Meanwhile, someone who is consumed by pride, will not only fail to confess but will attempt to cover-up, deny, and rationalize his sins. Gregory continues:

"But on the contrary it is the accustomed evil practice of man’s race, at once to commit sin keeping himself hidden from sight, and when committed to hide it by denying, and when brought home to him, to multiply it by standing up for it." [Moralia in Job, Book XXII, Chapter 14]

Thus we come to our own present ruinous culture which not only seeks to deny sins, but to create communities around them, celebrate them with parades, and force others to join the revel with them. 

The painting in the image above, showing Christ washing the feet of the Apostles, was done by the Venetian Tintoretto and was completed about AD 1549.