April's fool

Note to the world: children are horrible at making April Fool's jokes. And if ever you teach at a public school in New Orleans, the students will make these ridiculous comments all the day long. Of course, thinking about fools and foolishness made me recall what Paul had to say to the Corinthians:

"For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will thwart.' Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?" (1 Corinthians 1:18-21)

And...

"We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are honorable, but we without honor." (1 Corinthians 4:10)

So every time my kids make me feel like a fool, whether it is because I fall for their stupid April Fool's joke or because they are throwing little balls of paper into my hair, I can try to remember that somehow this foolishness on my part is helping me to be more like Christ. I can only hope and pray! So this April may we all be fools for Christ!

Unity of Hearts

Speaking of being more like Jesus, I was really excited about the fact that today was the first Friday devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus! ...and that it was the first time I've been able to go to Mass on a first Friday in a very, very long time. To top it all off, I was not only able to go to Mass but Stations of the Cross as well. This must be why Lent is my favorite season! It even beats out Fall.

As I have understood it, the main reason for the first Friday devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is to increase fervent love and adoration of Jesus, especially in respect to His ardent love for us and the suffering He endured for our salvation. Immediately following this day we honor the Immaculate Heart of Mary, who was so enjoined to the Heart of her Son that she led a life of perfect and heroic Christian virtue. It is for this reason that the Church encourages devotion to her and her Immaculate Heart... that she truly gave herself over fully to the Lord, and the fruits of this were seen in her life. For this reason we who deeply desire unity with Christ are encouraged to image her as she so perfectly imaged Christ and united her own heart to the Heart of Christ and the will of the Father.

About a year ago as I contemplated this mystery, I was praying a series of novenas for a friend, and had chosen to pray a novena to the Holy Spirt, another to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and (saving the best for last) a novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Because of my own particular devotion to the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts, I searched continually for a novena that would speak to the mysterious union of Mary's soul with that of Christ's... yet I found none. So after months of searching and praying I felt God was telling me it was time to create one. What could be more beautiful than a prayer to Jesus and Mary asking that we could grow closer to Christ and more perfect in His graces? And so was born the Novena of the Communion of Hearts.

The novena which I compiled finds its source in the Spirit, scripture, and several novenas to the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts which I had been praying at the time. I found myself pulling from a great number of resources to create this one unified vision of what it means to enjoin your heart to Christ. I hope that in sharing it with all of you, my friends, it may prove to be efficacious in your spiritual lives and truly help you to surrender your heart to Christ as Mary surrendered her heart to the Lord. Any fruit which is borne of this novena is of the Spirit alone as I was merely an instrument in His hands.

I hope that in praying this the Spirit would move your heart to continued conversion and deeper communion with the Heart of Him who redeemed us. I plan to begin praying this prayer daily on the Saturday before Palm Sunday, so that all through Holy Week I may meditate on this and be drawn ever nearer to the Heart of Christ. Please join me and invite others to do so as well!

Without further ado, here is the prayer:

Novena of the Communion of Hearts
O Sacred Heart of Jesus,
Full of love to all who call,
Overflowing with mercy and graces,
In this humble prayer I ask You
To grant me the grace to love You
With all of my heart,
All of my soul,
All of my strength
And all of my mind,
And to truly love my neighbor
As You would have me do.

O Sacred Heart of Jesus,
Meek and humble of heart,
Make my heart more like Thine own.
Perfect my impure heart
And help me to be holy
For the glory of Your name,
That others may see Your faithfulness
And come to know that You are
The way, the truth, and the life.

O Sacred Heart of Jesus,
I place within the wounds
Of Your Piercéd Heart
My joys, my sufferings,
My hopes and my fears,
Trusting that one day You will
Deliver me from my present affliction
And unto the promised land,
The new and eternal Jerusalem,
To live with Thee forever.

O Sacred Heart of Jesus,
May You always be loved and adored
In the most holy Sacrament of the altar
And in all the tabernacles of the world
Both now and forever.
O Sacred Heart of Jesus,
Draw me ever nearer to Thee.

Sweet and Immaculate Heart of Mary,
Loving mother of the Church
Your heart was open to the call of the Lord
And you faithfully gave Him your “Yes,”
That His will might be done in you.
Pray that I, too, may hear the voice of the Lord
When He calls out to me
And that I may be filled
With His Spirit of courage
To fervently cry out, “Yes, Lord!
Be it done unto me according to Your word.”

Sweet and Immaculate Heart of Mary,
Meek and humble of heart,
The intimacy of union you have with your Son
Is beyond my comprehension,
Yet I desire for myself that same unity.
Pray that I may, by your example,
Seek to make my heart perfect through His graces
And to hold all these things,
Pondering them in my heart.

Sweet and Immaculate Heart of Mary,
As your Son suffered the pain and humiliation
Of His passion, crucifixion, and death,
You suffered alongside Him,
For it was foretold by Simeon,
“A sword will pierce your soul also.”
Pray that in my sufferings
I may be assured of the presence of your Son,
Jesus Christ, by my side through it all.
May I trust in His promise forever.

Sweet and Immaculate Heart of Mary,
May you always be honored
As the mother of our Lord and Savior,
And may we your children cling to you
And always beg your faithful intercession.

Sweet and Immaculate Heart of Mary,
Pray that I may draw ever nearer to your Son

I offer You, O Sacred Heart of Jesus
My whole heart—all that I am—
And ask that by the intercession of
Your mother’s Sweet and Immaculate Heart
My offering may be purified
And brought to Your heavenly throne.

I ask also that You would hear my cry
And extend Your graces to me for the following intention:
Grant my prayer, O Lord, if it be according to Your will,
But if what I ask for should not be granted,
May I receive that which will be of greater benefit to my soul
And will aid me in participating in Your divine plan.
May I ever seek to praise You
And place all of my trust in You,
Merciful and loving Savior.

As I echo the words of Your mother,
May my heart be drawn through her Sweet and Immaculate Heart
To Your Most Sacred Heart
And there find its dwelling forever:

Magnificat
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
My spirit rejoices in God my Savior
For He has looked with favor on His lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blesséd:
The Almighty has done great things for me,
And holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear Him
In every generation.
He has shown the strength of His arm,
He has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
And has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich He has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of His servant Israel
For He has remembered His promise of mercy,
The promise He made to our fathers,
To Abraham and his children for ever.

Amen.

Humilitas

At community group last Wednesday we discussed humility. What is humility? What does it look like? How do we gain it? And what would the Church be like if we were all more perfectly humble? It was a beautiful topic to discuss, especially since the Lord has been moving greatly in many of our lives to show us true humility.

Anyhow, we started off by reading 1 Cor 4:6-7. Paul beautifully reminds us that all we have is truly a gift from God: "I have applied all of this to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brethren, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. For who sees anything different in you? What have you that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?"

What is humility?

Because of the nature of our group, we got right to the particulars: defining the word humility. So we looked first at the root and origin to come up with a working definition: from the word "humus" meaning earth, we said that humility is--in a sense--being grounded in reality. Humility is about recognizing who you are: both your lowly origin and faults and your divine source and the gifts that flow forth from your Creator. Humility is also about recognizing who others are, and who we all are in relation to God. We are from the earth--from dust to dust--and yet from God's hands.

What does humility look like?

It was then important for us to differentiate humility from humiliation... and even from self-deprecation. Because we as humans tend to put so much stock in the work we do, often giving it over-importance, we came to realize through our discussion that humility is in great part about finding worth not in what you do, but in who you ARE in Christ. It's about truly being humbled by our own limitations but realizing that despite these difficulties, we are still inherently worth something in God's eyes.

As an aside, the regional directors of Teach for America visited my classroom on Thursday during my absolute worst period. I had to smirk at the irony of this visit immediately following our discussion about humility... and how God was really pushing me to internalize this concept! Hah. It's easy to see--and I will readily admit--that the only way I've made it through this year is because God has shown me that my worth is not derived from the work I do, but from who I am in Him. Every day I am humbled as I realize once again that certain things remain out of my control... and I have to give it all back to Him again.

How do we gain humility?

In talking about humility, we realized there is not a lot we can do to grow in humility. We realized that it's truly a God-given grace. Despite being able to impose little humiliations (mortifications) upon ourselves, there's nothing quite like God smacking it to us.

Being the ever-curious individual I am, I had to look up what the Church has to say about humility. So naturally I ventured to www.newadvent.org. Here are the best snippets I found from the site, and it makes far more sense for me to post them in their original form than to attempt to rephrase and explain them when already they are so clear and concise!

Humility as a gift of the Spirit

Humility in a higher and ethical sense is that by which a man has a modest estimate of his own worth, and submits himself to others. According to this meaning no man can humiliate another, but only himself, and this he can do properly only when aided by Divine grace. We are treating here of humility in this sense, that is, of the virtue of humility.

Humility as virtue

It [humility] removes pride and makes a man subject to and a fit recipient of grace according to the words of St. James: "God resisteth the proud, and giveth his grace to the humble" (James 4:6). Faith is the first and the positive fundamental virtue of all the infused virtues, because it is by it we can take the first step in the supernatural life and in our access to God: "For he that cometh to God, must believe that he is, and is a rewarder to them that seek him" (Hebrews 11:6).

Humility seen in the example of Christ and His Saints

From the example of Christ and His Saints we may learn the practice of humility, which St. Thomas explains (Contra Gent., bk, III, 135): "The spontaneous embracing of humiliations is a practice of humility not in any and every case but when it is done for a needful purpose: for humility being a virtue, does nothing indiscreetly. It is then not humility but folly to embrace any and every humiliation: but when virtue calls for a thing to be done it belongs to humility not to shrink from doing it [Emphasis added].

St. Thomas on Christ’s Humility

“Though the virtue of humility cannot attach to Christ in His divine nature; it may attach to Him in His human nature and His divinity renders His humility all the more praiseworthy, for the dignity of the person adds to the merit of humility; and there can be no greater dignity to a man than his being God. Hence the highest praise attaches to the humility of the Man God, who to wean men's hearts from worldly glory to the love of divine glory, chose to embrace a death of no ordinary sort, but a death of the deepest ignominy" (Summa Contra Gent., tr. Rickaby, bk. IV. ch. lv; cf. bk. III, ch. cxxxvi).

And what would the Church be like if we were all more perfectly humble?

So it seems in all of this that humility is 1) a God-given virtue 2) which helps us to receive all of the graces God wishes to shower upon us, 3) and even helps us to be courageous in answering the call of virtue to righteousness. So much for equating humility with “meek” in the “submissive” and “mild” sense! Finally, 4) the most perfect example we have of humility is in the life of Christ--fully God yet fully man--who came down from Heaven as a lowly infant to take on human flesh and indeed to take on all the sins of man, dying a most wretched death. How greatly He humbled Himself for our sakes!

Christ as the perfect example of humility

As Paul tells the Philippians in chapter 2:1-11:

1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any incentive of love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which was in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

God became man? Whoa. And we as Catholics believe that He not only humbled Himself to come in the infant flesh at Bethlehem, not only to die a wretched death upon the cross, but that He continues to humble himself each and every day to come in the Eucharist and be our very food! The depths our Lord will go to reach us in our lowly estate!

Mary as the perfect example of humility

As if the Lord had not blessed us enough He gives us His holy mother as a shining example of what it means to live a life of perfect Christian humility. You may say, “but we already have a perfect example in Christ!” And indeed, He is the prime example. But Mary’s life and love serve as a witness to the very life and love of Christ and show us that perfect Christian humility is attainable! She helps us to see that any normal human can attain sanctity if we open ourselves to the will of the Lord and let His light pierce our darkness.

If we look at the fiat of Mary, we see that it serves as the perfect pattern of humility. "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done unto me according to thy word."

Not, "Behold, I could be the handmaid of the Lord" or "I guess I'm the handmaid of the Lord," but I AM the handmaid of the Lord. She rightly recognizes that she is His and His alone, and that it is good and right that she is His servant. In saying "Be it done unto me" she acknowledges also that the work that He would do in and through her is not something she could do herself. It is not something she can do alone. She must instead open her whole heart to His perfect will so that His Word may take effect in her life.

So what would perfect humility mean for the Church? What would it mean if we all more perfectly imitated the example of Christ and the example of His Blessed Mother? For one thing, we’d see a Church in which we are all more open to receiving God’s graces and more open to doing His will. We’d see a Church full of redeemed sinners who are living in right relation with God. We’d see a Church that is more courageous when it comes to doing what righteousness calls us to do. And we’d see a much healthier, holier, more unified Bride of Christ. If we as the Church lived in perfect humility, we would be the perfect Bride for the perfect Bridegroom.

Prayer and song of thanksgiving

A ministry I was involved in during college spent an entire semester focusing on humility and introduced me to the beautiful prayer below, which I was able to share with my friends at community group on Wednesday. Take a moment and pray it yourself! Then check out this website with more interesting things to say about humility.

Litany of humility

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me Jesus.

From the desire of being loved...
From the desire of being extolled...
From the desire of being honored...
From the desire of being praised...
From the desire of being preferred to others...
From the desire of being consulted...
From the desire of being approved...
From the fear of being humiliated...
From the fear of being despised...
From the fear of suffering rebukes...
From the fear of being calumniated...
From the fear of being forgotten...
From the fear of being ridiculed...
From the fear of being wronged...
From the fear of being suspected...

That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I...
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease...
That others may be chosen and I set aside...
That others may be praised and I unnoticed...
That others may be preferred to me in everything...
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should...

-- Raphael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930),Secretary of State for Pope Saint Pius X

We ended the night by singing this song by Jon Foreman, the lead singer of Switchfoot. "Your Love is Strong" ...which so beautifully goes back to the gospel reading I wrote about in one of my earlier posts - about the birds of the air and the flowers of the field - why do you worry?

(Side note: humility is currently in the top 20% of searches on M-W.com.)