I have mentioned in the last few weeks the four cardinal virtues: prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance. Human virtues, the Catechism calls them. I also mentioned the three theological virtues: faith, hope and charity. These make us more divine, more God-like. I thought we could spend the next few weeks looking at particular virtues that counter the deadly sins.
The first deadly sin we encounter is pride. Pride demonstrates an excessive love of self, that diminishes the authority of our legitimate superiors and eventually the authority of almighty God Himself. We find this basic rebellion within our hearts as children when we disobey or disregard our parents and grandparents, and the great traditions of our families and societies – while thinking that we know better. When we have set these traditions aside during and after secondary education, we find ourself rootless and struggle to find a personal identity, until we may by chance adopt foreign ideas and become strangers to our families. A tearful parent or grandparent may remind us that they are praying for us.
That is the immediate authority – our parents and near family; the remote authority for Christians is always Jesus Christ, Who stands before us as the visible face of the Ancient of days. Our contempt for Him is far more serious than any contempt we may have for human authority. The great Saints of the Church have seen pride as the darkest of sins, for it casts off the dominion of the Creator and says with the serpent, I will not serve. I will not serve God… A proud person often then attempts to instruct others, without acknowledging that he does not have the required knowledge. This is an expression of vainglory, presumption and ambition, which are the direct result of pride.
The exact opposite of this behaviour is what Christ called the Kingdom of God, for that represents the community of the Elect who have willingly subjected themselves to the Law of Christ. The virtue opposite to pride is humility, which denotes a lowliness or poverty of spirit, and a submissiveness not only to God but to the authority structures that He has established over us. The humble man has a modest estimate of his own worth and submits himself to the guidance of others, but always for God’s sake. As children we submit to God and to our parents, as Religious and priests we also submit to our bishops and superiors, and many of us (both clergy and laity) submit to spiritual directors.
This does not mean that we do not esteem the gifts and the graces that God has granted to us in His goodness as inferior to those of other people. The human virtues of prudence, temperance and justice will here permit us to correctly moderate the pride we may have in self. Our ultimate model of humility is of course the God-man, especially as he is hanging upon His cross. In a moment of pride, we must find a crucifix, to remind ourselves that God once became a human being like us – an extraordinary act of self-humiliation – and then stepped down even further to be treated as a foreign criminal by a band of Roman soldiers. And He did this out of love for us.
“All you that thirst, come to the waters: and you that have no money make haste, buy, and eat: come ye, buy wine and milk without money, and without any price. Why do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which doth not satisfy you? Hearken diligently to Me, and eat that which is good, and your soul shall be delighted in fatness. Incline your ear and come to Me: hear and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the faithful mercies of David.”
Prophecy of Isaias, 55: 1-3 [link]
Our readings this weekend point to divine Providence, especially in the spiritual realm. We do of course have a powerful sense throughout Scripture of God providing for our material needs, and Christ Himself acknowledges this in His sermon on the mount, where He nevertheless says that we must seek first the kingdom of God (that is, His reign over our hearts, and therefore our perfect observance of the Commandments) and its righteousness, and then our material requirements will surely be taken care of as well. So, in our first reading, the prophet Isaiah seems to talk about material needs being met, but God actually demands that the people listen to Him, pay attention to Him, and their souls will be filled with His spiritual nourishment. In the second reading, S. Paul says that nothing should come between us and the love of God, that is, perfect reign of God over our hearts. Because Christ has said to us that if we love Him we shall obey His commandments.
“Who then shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation? or distress? or famine? or nakedness? or danger? or persecution? or the sword? (As it is written: For Thy sake we are put to death all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.) But in all these things we overcome, because of Him That hath loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor might, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Letter of S. Paul to the Romans, 8: 35-39 [link]
In the gospel reading, we have the famous story of the multiplication of the few loaves and some fish to feed several thousand people. This story if something of a parable on our lives in this world, which are often difficult, and full of pain and sorrow. So, the Apostles say, This is a desert place, and the hour is very late… Christ replies to His Church, You feed them… And then we get a Eucharist-themed story of miraculous feeding. Material provision we must not be too concerned about, spiritual provision we must request constantly in prayer, with hands outstretched, as we repeat the psalm response for this weekend: You open wide your hands, O Lord, and grant what we require.
“Which when Jesus had heard, He retired from thence by boat, into a desert place apart, and the multitudes having heard of it, followed Him on foot out of the cities. And He coming forth saw a great multitude, and had compassion on them, and healed their sick. And when it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, ‘This is a desert place, and the hour is now past: send away the multitudes, that going into the towns, they may buy themselves victuals.’ But Jesus said to them, ‘They have no need to go: give you them to eat.‘ They answered Him, ‘We have not here, but five loaves, and two fishes.’ He said to them, ‘Bring them hither to Me.’ And when He had commanded the multitudes to sit down upon the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, He blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to His disciples, and the disciples to the multitudes. And they did all eat, and were filled. And they took up what remained, twelve full baskets of fragments. And the number of them that did eat, was five thousand men, besides women and children.”
Gospel of S. Matthew 14: 13-21 [link]
Catholic Louth and Mablethorpe 