“…all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:2b – 7 (NIV version)
Ever since I discovered the Litany of Humility prayer (you can easily find it online), I have been praying it regularly. It summarizes the ongoing goals of my personal tenure in Love School: growing in humility and trust. I think these represent most people’s challenges in the spiritual life.
Humility is of course key to growth in the spiritual life, for pride has always been regarded as the legacy of our fallen natures, and the root cause of all sin. It is, as Scripture tells us, the sin of Satan. C.S. Lewis opined that, “Pride is spiritual cancer, for it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense.”
The reason the Litany of Humility is so powerful is that it lays out the problem, the cause and the remedy for pride.
The first section delineates the “fleshly” (to use St Paul’s term) strivings for acclaim, applause, recognition; for lots of “friends” and “followers” on social media; or to belong to the “in crowd”, those “in the know”. These are the things that make us “people pleasers”, addicted to the good opinion of those around us and therefore not free to truly love others. We can be so focused on ourselves that there’s no “space” in our hearts to give to anyone else.
The second section describes the soul wounds that we carry around inside us which make us doubt our own worth, the legacy of the traumas and deprivations experienced in our lives. They are the engines of all these prideful strivings, for they are primarily fears of rejection and exclusion. These are the things in us which do not need the false salve of public affirmation or reassurance, but instead the genuine, deep, healing love of God. It is by deeply receiving and experiencing his love – undeserved, unearned, reliable, familial – that the profound fears within us have any chance of being remedied. He wants to heal us, and so offers his entire Self – including the fellow members of his Body – that we might have corrective experiences which can heal our hearts.
The last section of the prayer refocuses us on the qualities of the self emptying love of the Heart of Jesus – humble, generous, merciful, trusting. Only the grace of the Holy Spirit can move me to even ask for this kind of unselfish love, for it requires carrying a certain kind of “cross” in order to cultivate it in my life.
Some might ask: what’s wrong with wanting to be loved, esteemed, honored, etc.? Those are surely normal, human desires, aren’t they? Indeed they are – but they are normative to the manner in which we are broken and still need God’s healing touch. Surely Jesus (or Adam and Eve before the Fall, for that matter) never doubted that he was truly loved. He showed a profound ability to hear the voice of his Father, affirming and leading him and was able therefore to tolerate the lies, accusations and rejection which swirled around him. Even while he fully experienced the pain that these things caused him in his full humanity, he never failed to reach out and respond in love to the needs of people around him.
Unlike Jesus, I still struggle with idolatrous strivings and fears that require healing and which keep me at times preoccupied and unavailable to people in my life. Praise God that his Spirit is strong in my weakness and inability! He is working to heal me and make me more like him no matter how long it takes.
Note: Check out: https://youtu.be/aR4AvfP6C5U?si=O6MvYzM79x_dhdt2.
This video is a sensitive, tender explanation of some of the potential pitfalls and difficulties in praying the Litany of Humility. If you’re interested, give it a listen.
Lessons From Love School 