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March 10, 2023By John J. Boucher
Special to The Catholic Free Press
Lent is a time when we yearn to be more humble, more Christian, and more like Jesus in our lives. However, we may wonder what concrete steps might help us grow in such humility.
“The great paradox which Scripture reveals to us is that real and total freedom is only found through downward mobility. The Word of God came down to us and lived among us as a slave. The divine way is indeed the downward way.” (Henri Nouwen, The Selfless Way of Christ)
Below are some of many concrete practices we might try in our downward mobility of discipleship with Jesus. They fall under the Lenten calls for prayer, fasting, and good deeds.
1) We can begin by asking God to help us grow in humility. Like other fruits of the Holy Spirit, humility grows in the furnace of daily circumstances where we face our own weaknesses, failings, and sins. We ask Jesus to grant us the grace to recognize and repent of our selfishness and self-centeredness. Constant repentance is one prayer that is always answered, often immediately!
2) Pray for others, especially for the people we don’t like or agree with. Pray for them to be blessed out of the immense goodness of God’s love for them. It is hard to remain angry with someone we have been earnestly praying for each day.
3) Spend more time listening than speaking. We can begin by listening to God twice as long as we speak in our prayer time. We can also grow in this by listening to each person we meet in much the same way. Start by asking, “How are you doing?” Then listen for five minutes without butting in or formulating how we will respond.
4) Fast from criticizing and complaining about other people in person, on social media, under our breath, and even in the secret recesses of our heads. When we realize we are criticizing/complaining, stop ourselves. Repent and ask God’s forgiveness.
5) Fast from imagining that we have no broken relationships with others. When we hurt someone, we go to that person, apologize, and ask her/him to forgive us. Also, we might ask them to help us by correcting us when we fall into that same behavior again.
6) Accept the gift of criticism from others. Admit that we don’t know everything or do everything right. At the heart of all criticism, there can be seeds of truth and hints about how we need to treat others in more loving ways.
7) Volunteer time each week to directly serve the poor, the sick, and those who are hurting “face-to-face,” especially those who can never help us back.
8) Fast from pride. If we are in a leadership position at work, at home, in the community, or in church ministry, we can decide to serve others in concrete ways that they need the most. If we are too big to serve others in menial ways, we are too small to lead.
9) Next time we use a shared or public restroom, leave that place in better shape than we find it. Pick up litter, get extra toilet paper, and find out how to get it cleaned up. (If we can, gather equipment and materials together and clean it ourselves!)
10) Practice gratitude. Thank others “out loud” for serving us and taking care of our needs. We can never thank others enough.
Humility is a fruit of the Spirit that grows best by acting or practicing our way into a new way of being and thinking.
Prayer, fasting, and good deeds are practices that prepare us to receive more of the person of the Holy Spirit who will light up all our relationships.
“The true goal of our Christian life consists in the acquisition of the Holy Spirit of God. Fasting, vigils, prayers, almsgiving, and all good deeds done for the sake of Christ are but means for the acquisition of the Holy Spirit of God.” (St. Seraphim of Sarov).