Humility & Hatred

My brothers and sisters in Christ, peace and all good to you!

My reflection for you today will be about two things and their relationship to one another: humility and hatred.

As a Franciscan, humility is one of those things I am called to live out by the example of our seraphic father Saint Francis of Assisi. What does it mean to be humble? True humility must come from the heart, and it must come from a peace within ourselves. To be humble is to put others needs before our own, while not neglecting ourselves. To be humble is to free ourselves from the approval of others. To be humble is not to seek out any feeling that elevates ourselves. Being humble is the freeing of ourselves from the desire to be loved; the desire to be extoled; the desire to be praised. Now of course all humans wish to have approval for what they do and who they are in life. However, what I am talking about is when we prize those things over our relationship with Christ and His Church. It is hard to remain humble in the face of praise as one of my spiritual fathers once told me. Yet, this is a spiritual discipline that can be mastered. I have met many holy men and women who have made great strides in humbling themselves, all for Christ's sake. I'm reminded of the word of Saint John the Baptist when he says, "I must decrease so He may increase..." We must always remember that praise, honor, exaltation, are all very good and noble. However, we must never let them elevate us to something we are not. We are followers of Christ and servants to our fellow man. I think if we all remembered that more and kept it in our minds, the world would be a kinder place.

As for hatred my brothers and sisters, this is the antonym for humility. We see so much hatred in our society, especially towards those who do not hold the same beliefs or viewpoint as us. What happened to the grace we are meant to show each other? What happened to loving our neighbor and serving him in the name of Christ? Once again, this is all linked to a lack of humility. "I hate that person!" Really? To hate is contrary to the nature of God. Hatred is like a cancer to the current society. Jesus had one day left to live on earth and you know what he did? He washed feet. He served those he both loved and disliked. Remember, Judas Iscariot was among those who Jesus washed feet for that night. How dare we think we have the right to hate anything! The homeless, the mentally ill, immigrants, LGBTQ+ persons, people of color, people who spread lies and harmful rhetoric, etc. How dare we think we are in any position to give out the terrible emotion of hate! God have mercy on us. More often we are obsessed with the sin of what we have done wrong. However I charge you my brothers and sisters, think about all you DID NOT DO because of hate. How many people did we not help but were entirely capable? How many people needed a friend but we said, "I really dont want to deal with that person." and shrug them off? How many times as our worldview got in the way of seeing Christ in every living being on earth?

I charged each and every one of you, let humility increase and hatred decrease in your lives. "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." the powerful words of our Lord from the Sermon on the Mount. This is the blueprint for basic Christianity and Christian living. I will pray earnestly for all of us, and especially ask you pray for me that I may also master such a task. Above all, do so in love, humility, gentleness, kindness, prayerful thought and consideration, and then, and only then, may we think about effective dialogue with those who we disagree with or have a strained relationship.

Praise be Jesus Christ, true God and true man,

-Fr, Gregg Drebenstedt, O.S.F.