Back in February I gave a talk to a large group (300+) at the Blessed John Paul II Shrine here in Washington. The topic was a pastoral plan for the family. The video of that talk became available recently and I thought I’d share it here.
In yesterday’s Post we considered the 12 Steps of Pride set forth by St. Bernard of Clairvaux. In escalating ways, the 12 twelve steps draw us up to an increasingly mountainous and enslaving pride.
St. Bernard also lists the 12 steps to deeper humility (I am using the list from Vultus DeiHERE) and it is these that we consider in this post. As with yesterday’s post, the list by St. Bernard is in red, but the commentary on each step are my own poor reflections. Take what you like and leave the rest. For St. Bernard’s own reflections, consider purchasing the book he wrote: Steps of Humility and Pride.
(1) Fear of God– to fear the Lord is to hold God in awe. It is to be filled with wonder and all at all God has done, and who he is.
Cringing, servile fear is not counseled here. Rather, the fear rooted in love and deep reverence for God is what begins to bring us down the mountain of pride.
It is a look to God, and away from ourselves and our egocentric tendencies, that begins to break our pride.
Scripture says The fear the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov 9:10). To fear the Lord is to turn to the Lord, seeking answers, seeking meaning, realizing that in God is all wisdom and knowledge. To fear the Lord is to hunger and thirst for his truth and righteousness. To fear the Lord is to look outside and upward from myself to God.
Here begins our journey down the mountain of pride, a simple and loving look to God who alone can set us free from the slavery that pride and sinfulness created for us.
(2) Abnegation of self-will – In the garden, Jesus said to his father, Father, not as I will, but as you will (Lk 22:42). And this is what abnegation of the will means. It is to be willing to surrender my will to God’s will, to subsume my decisions under his.
Pride demands to do what it pleases, and to determine whether it is right or wrong. But in this stage of humility I am willing to look to God.
The Saints say, “If God wants it, I want it. If God doesn’t want it, I don’t want it.” The prideful person says “How come I can’t have it? Its not so bad. Everybody else is doing it.”
But on the journey away from pride, and having come to a fear of the Lord, now the we are more joyfully ready to listen to God, and to submit his vision will for us.
(3) Obedience – And now, having obtained to a more humble disposition of heart, we are more capable and wiling to obey. Obedience moves from the hearing to the heeding of God’s word, of God’s holy will, and of being willing to surrender our stubborn wills. We are made ready, by God’s grace, to execute that will, to obey and put into action the will of God. And thus the descent of the mountain of pride begins apace, toward the freedom of the children of God, little by little.
(4) Patient endurance – , Embarking on this journey down the mountain of pride and striving to hear and understand God’s will and to obey him, one can surely expect obstacles both internally and externally.
Our flesh, that is, our sin nature, does not simply and wholeheartedly surrender, but continues to battle. Our flesh resists prayer, resists being submitted to anything other than his own wishes and desires. And thus, internally, we suffer resistance from our sinful nature.
But little by little we gain greater self-discipline and authority over our unruly passions. This is truly a struggle, requiring patience, and an enduring spirit and will.
Externally too, we often encounter resistance as we try to come down from the mountain of pride. Perhaps old friends seek to seduce us back to former ways. Perhaps too the structures of our pride remain standing; structures such as willfulness, self-reliance, powerful positions, etc., continue to draw us away from our intentions come down the mountain of pride and further embrace humble submission to God. Perhaps the world continues to demand that we think and act out of old categories that are not of God, and still hold us bound to some extent.
Patient endurance is often required to see such things born away. Yes, it often takes years of patient and persistent action, even decades, for the sinful world dominated by structures of sin and rebellion, to lose its grip on us.
(5) Disclosure of the heart – Perhaps the most humble journey, as we come down the mountain of pride, is the journey in to our wounded hearts. Scripture says, More tortuous than all else is the human heart; beyond remedy; who can understand it? I, alone, the LORD, explore the mind and test the heart (Jer 17:10).
To make this journey, requires a lot of humility as we see our sinful drives, and also many misplaced priorities. We must often uncover unpleasant memories, and even trauma from the past, that we have experienced or have inflicted on others. And in that place of our heart we are called repentance and to show forgiveness and mercy, or to accept that we must be forgiven and shown mercy.
We may be asked to remember and to realize that we have not always been 100% right, and that we have sometimes acted unjustly and sinfully toward others, that we have a times been insensitive. This is a very humbling journey, but a necessary one as we continue to come down from the mountain of pride.
(6) Contentedness with what is – Contentedness is a form of acceptance and is a very great gift to seek and to receive. We can distinguished a kind of external and internal contentedness.
External acceptance is rooted in the capacity to live serenely in the world as it is, and to realize that God allows many things we don’t prefer for a reason and a season. Acceptance does not connote approval of everything. Indeed there are many things in the world that we ought not approve of. But acceptance is the willingness to humbly live and work in a world that is neither perfect nor fully according to our preferences. Some things we are called to change, other things to endure. And even in those things we are called to change, we may have to accept that we cannot change them quickly or at all right now. Jesus told a parable about the wheat and tares and cautioned not to act precipitously to remove the tares, lest the wheat be harmed. It is a mysterious fact that God leaves many things unresolved and part of our journey in humility is discern what we are empowered to change and what we must come to accept as beyond our ability to change.
Internal contentedness is a gratitude for what we have and a freedom from resentment about what we do not have. In pride we demand that our agenda, our menu be fully followed. In our journey toward humility we come to be more content to gratefully accept what God offers and to say, “It is enough O Lord. I am most grateful!”
(7) Lucid self-awareness – In pride we are often filled with many delusions about our self, and usually think more highly of our self than we ought. We are often unaware of just how difficult it can be to live or work with us.
But as we continue down the mountain of pride, fearing the Lord, submitting our will to his in docility and obedience, being more honest about the deep recesses of our heart, our disordered drives and unrealistic agendas, we are now increasing prepared to embrace true humility.
Humility is reverence for the truth about our self. It is a lucid self awareness that appreciates our gifts, remembers that they ARE gifts. And it is an awareness also of our struggles and of our on-going need for repentance and the grace of God.
With lucid self awareness I am increasingly learning to know my self more as God knows me (cf 1 Cor 13:12). This is because, as we come down from the mountain of pride into deeper humility, God discloses more to us just who we really are. We become more and more the man or woman God has made us to be, and our self-delusions and the unrealistic demands of the world begin to fade. The darkness of these illusions is replaced by a lucidity of self awareness where we are able to see and understand our self in a less ego-centric way. We are mindful of what we are doing, and thinking, and how we interact with God and others. But we do this in a way that strongly aware of the presence and grace of God. We come to self awareness in the context of living conscious contact with God throughout the day.
(8) Submission to the common rule – The ego-centric and prideful person resists being told what to do and is largely insensitive to the needs of others and the common good. The proud man thinks he knows better than the collective wisdom of the community.
But as our journey down the mountain of pride continues, into deeper humility, we become more aware of the effects we have on others and how we must learn to interact and cooperate with others for goals larger than our self. Humility teaches that the world does not simply revolve around me and what I want, and that sometimes the needs of others are more important than my own. Humility helps us accept that laws exist most often to protect the common good and that, while individual rights are also important to protect, humility make me more willing to submit my personal needs and agenda to the needs of others and the wisdom of the wider community.
(9) Silence –Silence is a respectful admission that other people have wisdom to share and important things to share. The proud person interrupts frequently and quickly thinking he knows already what the other person is saying or that what he has to say is more important. But as humility grows, we become better listeners, appreciating that others may be able to offer us knowledge or wisdom that we currently lack.
(10) Emotional sobriety – Many of our emotional excesses are rooted in pride and ego-eccentricity. When we are proud we are easily offended, easily threatened. For fear begets anger.
And, as we saw yesterday, the initial stages of pride are often rooted in inordinate curiosity, mental levity and giddiness. All of these things cause our emotional life to be excessive and disordered.
But as we now grow deeper in humility we are less ego-centric and thus we are less fearful and less easily offended.
And having our mental life focused on more substantial and less frivolous things, also adds stability to our thought life. We are less carried off into gossip, intrigue, rumor and so forth. We are less stirred up by the machinations of advertisers and less disturbed the 24/7 “breaking news” cycles of the cable news marketers. We are more thoughtful and less likely to rush to judgments that often unsettle us.
The humble person trusts God more and is thus not easily unsettled by all these mental machinations. And it is thoughts that generate feelings.
Thus as our thought life becomes more measured, and our conclusions more humble and careful, our emotions are less volatile and we attain to an emotional serenity and sobriety.
This is a very great gift to seek and cultivate by God’s grace.
(11) Restraint in speech – As we are more emotionally stable, less anxious, and stirred up, our speech and demeanor reflect our serenity. We are less likely to interrupt, to speak in anger or be unnecessarily terse or harsh. We don’t need to “win” every debate but are content perhaps to stay in the conversation or be content to sow seeds and leave the harvest for later or for others. Our serenity tends to lower our volume and speed in talking and we are more able and content to speak the truth in love, with clarity, but also with charity.
(12) Congruity between one’s inside and one’s outside – We saw in yesterday’s post on pride, the problem of hypocrisy. The Greek word “hypocritas” refers to acting. Hypocrites are actors playing a role that is not really them.
The proud and the fearful are always posturing and aligning themselves with what makes for popularity and profit. But as humility reaches its goal, integrity, honesty and sincerity come to full flower.
This is because, by the gift of humility, we open ourselves to be fully formed by God. Having turned our look to God, and made the journey into our heart, we discover the man or woman God has made us to be, and we begin to live out of that experience in an authentic and non-pretentious way. Since, by humility we are more focused on God we are less nervously self-conscious.
By the gift of lucid self-awareness described above, we are comfortable in our own skin. We do not need to posture, dominate, compare or compete. Rather, our inner spiritual life and focus on God now inform our whole self.
Humility has now reached its goal, for humility is reverence for the truth about our self. We are sinners who are loved by God. And as we make the journey to discover our true self before God, we become ever more grateful and serene, and we live out of this, inner life with God are enabled to walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8).
Thanks be to God for these insightful lists of St. Bernard of Clairvaux and St Benedict which has so aided in this reflection! Pray God we all are able to make the journey down form the mountain of pride and into deeper humility.
So you think the idea of the 12 Steps is new. Well, if you think you’ve got a new idea, go back and see how the Greeks put it, or in this case how the Medieval Latins put it. St. Bernard of Clairvaux identified twelve steps up the mountain of pride. These are detailed in a work by him entitled Steps of Humility and Pride.
In today’s post we focus on the Twelve Steps of Pride. Tomorrow, on the Twelve Steps of Humility (from St Benedict’s rule). Here I list the 12 Steps of Pride only briefly and give a brief commentary on each which is mine, so don’t blame St. Bernard. Again, the list is his. The inferior comments are mine.
One will note how the 12 steps grow far more serious as we go along and and lead ultimately to the slavery of sin. The steps tend to build on one another, beginning in the mind, moving to behavior, and then to deepening attitudes of presumption and ultimately bringing forth revolt and slavery. For if one does not serve God, he will serve Satan.
Twelve steps up the mountain of pride. Think of these like escalating symptoms:
(1) Curiosity – There is such a thing as healthy curiosity but often we also delve into things we ought not: other peoples affairs, private matters, sinful things and situations, and so forth. What makes such curiosity to be annexed to pride is that so often we think we have a right to know things we do not. And hence we pridefully and indiscreetly look into things that we ought not, things that are not for us to know, or which are inexpedient and distracting for us, or perhaps the knowledge which we seek is beyond our ability to handle well. But casting all caution aside, and with a certain prideful and privileged sense we pry, meddle, and look into things we ought not as if we had a right to do so. This is sinful curiosity.
(2) Levity of mind – Occupying our mind with things not appropriate grows and we tend to become playful in wider matters. Here too, there is a valid sense of humor and a kind of recreational diversion that has a place. A little light banter about sports or pop culture may provide momentary diversions that are relaxing. But too often this just about all we do and we pridefully cast aside matters about which we should be serious and pursue only light and passing things. In ignoring or making light of serious things pertaining to eternity and delving only into entertaining and passing things, we pridefully ignore things to which we ought to attend. Hours watching sitcoms and “reality” TV but no time for prayer, study, instruction of children in the faith, caring for the poor, and so forth is a lack of seriousness that manifests pride. We lightly brush aside what is important to God and substitute our own foolish priorities. This is pride.
(3) Giddiness – Here we move from a levity of mind to the frivolous behaviors they produce, behaviors in which we over-emphasize lightweight experiences or situations, at the expense of more serious and important things having to do with profundities. Silly, vapid, foolish and capricious behaviors indicate a pride wherein one is not rich in what matters to God. We pridefully maximize the minimum and minimize the maximum. We find all the time for frivolities but no time for prayer or study of Holy Truth.
(4) Boasting – Increasingly locked into our little world of a darkened intellect and foolish behavior we begin to exult in lower behaviors and consider such carnal behaviors to be a sign of greatness. And thus we begin to boast of foolish things. To boast is to speak and think of oneself more highly than is true or reasonable. While we should learn to appreciate the gifts we have, we ought to recall that they ARE gifts give us by God and often through others who helped us develop them. St. Paul says, What have you that you have not received? And if you have received it, why do you boast as though you had not? (1 Cor 4:7) But the boaster thinks too highly of himself either asserting gifts he does not have or forgetting that what he does have is a grace, a gift. This is pride. And, as we have seen our boasting tends to be about foolish and passing things.
(5) Singularity– Our world gets ever smaller and yet we think ourselves even greater. We are king alright, king of an ant hill, rulers of a tiny speck of dust sweeping through the immensity of space. But as our pride grows we too easily we forget our dependance on God and others for who and what we are. There is no such thing as a self made man. We are all contingent beings, very dependent on God and others. Further, we also too easily draw into our own little mind and world and tend to think that something is so just because we think so. Withdrawing only to our own counsel we discount the evidence of reality and stop seeking information and counsel from others. The man who seeks only his own counsel has a fool for and adviser, and a prideful adviser at that. Singularity is pride. Yet this pride swells as our world gets ever smaller and more singular, focused increasingly only on our self.
(6) Self-conceit – Here is described an unjustly favorable and unduly high opinion of one’s own abilities or worth. As our world gets ever smaller and our pride ever greater our self focus and delusion grows ever stronger and we become increasingly self-referential. Something is now so merely because I say so. I am fine because I say so. Never mind that all of us are a mixture of strengths and weaknesses, sanctity and sinfulness. Too easily we grow blind to just how difficult we can be to live with. Too easily we find faults in others but fail to see them in our very self. Further, we too easily seek for others to favorably compare our self, thinking, “Well at least I am not like that prostitute or drug dealer over there.” But being better than a prostitute or drug dealer is not the standard we must meet. Jesus is the standard we must meet. But rather than refer our self to Jesus and seek mercy, we refer our self to others we look down on and give way to pride.
(7) Presumption – Now even God’s judgements must cede to ours. I am fine and will be saved because I say so. This is a sin against hope wherein we simply take salvation as granted and due to us no matter what we do. In effect we already claim to possess what we do not. It is right for us to confidently hope for God’s help in attaining eternal life. This is the Theological virtue of Hope. But it is pride to think we have already accomplished and possess what we do not already have or possess. It is a further pride to set aside God’s Word which over and over teaches us walk in hope and seek God’s help as a beggar, not as a possessor or as one legally entitled to glory in heaven. Presumption is pride.
(8) Self-justification – Jesus must now vacate the Judgment seat because I demand his place. Not only that, but he must also vacate the cross because I don’t really need his sacrifice. I can save myself, and frankly I don’t need a lot of saving. Self-justification is the attitude that says I am able, by my own power to justify, that is save myself. It is also an attitude that says, in effect: “I will do what I want to do and I will decide if it is right or wrong.” St. Paul says, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. (1 Cor 4:3-4). But the prideful person cares only for his own view of himself and refuses to be accountable ultimately even to God. The prideful person forgets that no one is a judge in his own case.
(9) Hypocritical confession – The word hypocrite in Greek means “actor.” Now we will observe that in certain settings some degree of humility and acknowledgement of ones fault is “profitable.” One can get “credit” for humbly acknowledging certain faults and calling himself a “sinner.” But, the prideful man is just acting. Just playing a role and doing his part more for social credit than out of real contrition or repentance. After all, I’m really not that bad off. But if posturing and playing the role of the humble and contrite sinner will get me somewhere, I’ll say my lines, play the part and look holy. But only if the applause from the audience is forthcoming.
(10) Revolt – Pride really begins to go off the rails when one outright revolts against God and his lawful representatives. To revolt means to renounce allegiance to or any sense of accountability or obedience to God, to his Word or to His Church. To revolt is to attempt to overthrow the authority of others, in this God and his Church. It is prideful to refuse to be under any authority and act in ways that are directly contrary to what lawful authority rightly asserts.
(11) Freedom to sin – Here pride reaches its near conclusion as it arrogantly asserts and celebrates that it is utterly free to do what it pleases. The prideful man is increasingly rejecting of any restraints or limits. But the freedom of the proud man is not really freedom at all. Jesus says, Whoever sins is a slave to sin (John 8:34) and the Catechism echoes: The more one does what is good, the freer one becomes. There is no true freedom except in the service of what is good and just. The choice to disobey and do evil is an abuse of freedom and leads to the slavery of sin. (Catechism 1733) But the proud man will have none of this and arrogantly goes on asserting his freedom to do what he pleases even as he descends deeper and deeper into addiction and every form of slavery.
(12) The habit of sinning – and thus we see Pride’s full and ugly flower: habitual sin and slavery to sin. As St. Augustine says, For of a forward will, was a lust made; and a lust served, became custom; and custom not resisted, became necessity.(Conf 8.5.10)
And thus we have climbed in twelve steps the mountain of pride. It begins in the mind with a lack of sobriety rooted in sinful curiosity and frivolous preoccupation. Next come frivolous behavior and excusing, presumptive and dismissive attitudes. Last comes out right revolt and slavery to sin. Pride is now in full flower. The slavery comes for if one refuses in pride to serve God he will serve Satan.
We have seen an escalation in these steps which is not far from an old admonition: sow a thought, reap a deed; sow a deed, reap an habit; sow a habit, reap a character, sow a character, reap a destiny.
Is there a way down this mountain of pride? Tune in tomorrow.
We have discussed before on this blog that we live in a culture where maturity is often significantly delayed. In fact there are many in our culture who never grow up. One paradigm of our culture is to that it is fixated on teenage years. Fixation is a psychological description of a person who has not successfully navigated one of the stages of infancy or youth and thus remains stuck in the thinking and patterns of that stage, to one degree or another. Out culture’s fixation on teenage issues and attitudes is manifest in some of the following:
Irrational aversion to authority
Refusal to use legitimately use the authority one has
Titillation and irresponsibility regarding sexuality
General irresponsibility and a lack of personal accountability
Demanding all of one’s rights but avoiding most of one’s responsibilities
Blaming others for one’s own personal failings
Being dominated by one’s emotions and carried away easily by the passions
Obsession with fairness evidenced by the frequent cry, “It’s not fair!”
Expecting others and government agencies to do for me what I should do for myself
Aversion to instruction
Irrational rejection of the wisdom of elders and tradition
Obsession with being and looking young, aversion to becoming or appearing old
Lack of respect for elders
Obsession with having thin and young looking bodies
Glorification of irresponsible teenage idols in culture.
Inordinate delay of marriage, widespread preference for the single life.
I have often been accused when writing in this manner, especially by younger men that I have little idea what they really face. I do plead to being guilty of being less sensitive to the struggle of men simply because I am a man. I don’t generally like to hear men make excuses, as a man it alarms me. Men tend to tell each other to make no excuses and to “be a man.”
But I was alerted recently to two other articles on this subject. One of them is by a woman who has some good insights to the lack of male maturity today. Sometimes it takes someone on the outside to better grasp the dynamics. I think she shows a little more understanding (in both the intellectual and sympathetic sense of the word), and if it helps male readers to experience greater insight than I have to offer, I offer here an excerpt with comments by me in red:
Not so long ago, the average American man in his 20s had achieved most of the milestones of adulthood: a high-school diploma, financial independence, marriage and children. Today, most men in their 20s hang out in a novel sort of limbo, a hybrid state of semi-hormonal adolescence and responsible self-reliance. This “pre-adulthood” has much to recommend it, especially for the college-educated.
So she coins a term here called “pre-adulthood.” I have tended just to call this “extended adolescence” but her terms does capture the fact that many of the immature men (and some women too) do live away from parents and do have jobs, but otherwise are not so different from adolescents and college preppies. So her term does include a necessary distinction.
But it’s time to state what has become obvious to legions of frustrated young women: It doesn’t bring out the best in men….They are more like the kids we babysat than the dads who drove us home…..
Exactly. I have had many women tell me how tedious young men are. I usually reply that a feminized culture has largely produced them. So has a culture fixed on teen themes. Men also get mixed messages from both women and culture to the effect “Be a man, but don’t do it in a manly way…Show some leadership but get out of the way…. Many men are rightly confused, especially younger men who are some two generations removed from anything resembling a patriarchal family structure. Today matriarchy is the norm almost everywhere, and if there is even a whiff of Patriarchy it is round mocked and even punished legally. Ms Hymowitz will develop this more.
Among “pre-adults,”(again, her word for the extension of adolescence)women are the first sex. They graduate from college in greater numbers (among Americans ages 25 to 34, 34% of women now have a bachelor’s degree but just 27% of men), and they have higher GPAs. As most professors tell it, they also have more confidence and drive. These strengths carry women through their 20s, when they are more likely than men to be in grad school and making strides in the workplace. In a number of cities, they are even out-earning their brothers and boyfriends….Their male peers often come across as aging frat boys…
Yes the feminists in our culture have long ago succeed in emasculating culture and making male proclivities almost criminal. In schools young boys who show the traditional spit and vinegar are declared ADHD and medicated. They are forbidden the rough and tumble that used to be usual fare for growing boys. Leadership and the aggression (within proper limits) that often fuels male leadership is excoriated etc. In this strange land of largely feminine run schools boys are poorly formed and it makes sense that they under-achieve. Nevertheless, despite decades of this, most feminists still claim victim status and continue to double-down on further feminizing the scene. Gone are the days when Father Flanagan caught two boys fighting and issued them boxing gloves and set the time for a proper fight between gentlemen after school.
For a long time, the poor and recent immigrants were not part of adolescent life; they went straight to work, since their families couldn’t afford the lost labor and income….today’s pre-adults have been wait-listed for adulthood. Yes this phenomenon is quite recent and rooted in western affluence and to some degree decadence.
Marketers and culture creators help to promote pre-adulthood as a lifestyle…. Precisely.
Pre-adulthood has also confounded the primordial search for a mate. It has delayed a stable sense of identity, dramatically expanded the pool of possible spouses, mystified courtship routines and helped to throw into doubt the very meaning of marriage.
In 1970, to cite just one of many numbers proving the point, nearly seven in 10 25-year-olds were married; by 2000, only one-third had reached that milestone… In 1974 there were 400,000 weddings in Catholic Parishes in the USA. In 2004 there were 199,000 weddings. Cut more than in half and it has dropped like a rock since.
It’s been an almost universal rule of civilization that girls became women simply by reaching physical maturity, but boys had to pass a test. They needed to demonstrate courage, physical prowess or mastery of the necessary skills. The goal was to prove their competence as protectors and providers. Today, however, with women moving ahead in our advanced economy, husbands and fathers are now optional, and the qualities of character men once needed to play their roles—fortitude, stoicism, courage, fidelity—are obsolete, even a little embarrassing.
George Guilder made this same point in a landmark Book Men and Marriage. Ms. Hymowitz does a remarkable job in just two sentences of describing the remarkable toll the break down of the family has had on men. Along with expansive (Mommy State) government usurping a provider role and the general feminization of culture, men are in a cauldron of confusion and obsolescence, a kind of perfect storm.
Today’s pre-adult male is like an actor in a drama in which he only knows what he shouldn’t say. He has to compete in a fierce job market, but he can’t act too bossy or self-confident. He should be sensitive but not paternalistic, smart but not cocky….
Why should they grow up? No one needs them anyway. There’s nothing they have to do. They might as well just have another beer. Wow.
I realize both Ms Hymnowitz’s remarks and mine too are not without controversy, especially my remarks about the feminizing of culture. I saying this I do not mean to say there is no value in femininity, only that things have gone out of balance for men. Comments are open.
The first reading from today’s Mass is an extraordinary moral tale from the Book of Daniel. It is the story of Susanna. The full passage (which is quite lengthy) can be found here: Daniel 13:1-62. Interestingly it is missing from Protestant Bibles which use a truncated version of the Book of Daniel. As such it is a lesser known passage, even among Catholics since it is only read on a weekday Mass once a year.
It features the story of a beautiful young woman, Susanna, married to a man named Joakim. One day as she is bathing in a private garden two older men who have hidden themselves there out of lust try to seduce Susanna who rebuffs their brazen overture. They threaten to falsely accuse her of having committed adultery with a young man in garden if she does not give way to their desires. She still refuses and they follow through on their threatened lie. They further demand that she should be stoned. Things look bleak for Susanna until Daniel comes to the rescue and, through crafty interrogation, exposes their lie for what it is. The story is a small masterpiece. If you have never read it, you should. In the course of its engaging tale it gives us a kind of anatomy lesson of sin. It is good to consider the teachings here.
In a remarkable description the story describes a threefold source from which their sins spring forth. The text says: They suppressed their consciences; they would not allow their eyes to look to heaven, and did not keep in mind just judgments. (Daniel 13:9). I’d like to take a look at each of these three sources from which sin springs.
1. They suppressed their consciences– What is the conscience? The Catechism defines it thus: For Man has in his heart a law inscribed by God, This is his conscience, there he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths… (Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) # 1776). So, in effect, the conscience is the voice of God within us. God has written his Law in the hearts of every human person.
Thus, in terms of basic right and wrong, we know what we are doing. There may be certain higher matters of the Law that the conscience must be taught (eg. the following of certain rituals or feasts days etc.). But in terms of fundamental moral norms, we have a basic and innate grasp of what is right and wrong. Deep down inside we know what we are doing. We see and salute virtues like bravery, self-control, and generosity. We also know that things like murder of the innocent, promiscuity, theft, destruction of reputations etc are wrong.For all the excuses we like to make, deep down inside we know what we are doing, and we know that we know. I have written substantially about conscience elsewhere (HERE).
But notice that it says that they “suppressed their consciences.” Even though we know something is wrong we often want to do it anyway. One of the first things our wily minds will do is to try and suppress our conscience. To suppress something is to put it down by force, to inhibit or to try and exclude something from awareness or consciousness.
The usual way of doing this is through rationalizations and sophistry. We invent any number of thoughts, lies and distortions to try and reassure our self that something is really OK, something that deep down inside we know isn’t OK.
We also accumulate false teachers and teachings to assist in this suppression of the truth that our conscience witnesses to. St. Paul wrote to Timothy: For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. (2 Tim 4:1-3).
It is quite an effort to suppress one’s own conscience and I would argue that we cannot ever do it completely. In fact the whole attempt to suppress the conscience is not only quite an effort, it is also very fragile. This helps explain the anger and hostility of many in the world toward the Church. Deep down they know we are right and often, just the slightest appeal to the conscience to awaken its voice, causes quite an eruption of fear and anger.
So here is the first stage in the anatomy of a sin: the suppression of the conscience. In order to act wickedly and not face deep psychological pain of significant guilt these men in the story first suppress their conscience in order to shut off the source of that pain. Step one is underway.
2. They would not allow their eyes to look to heaven– In order to sustain the fictions, stinking thinking, rationalizations, and sophistry that are necessary to suppress the conscience, it is necessary for one to distance himself from the very source of conscience, God himself.
One way to do this is to drift away from God though neglect of prayer, worship, study of the Word of God and association with the Church which speaks for God. Drifting away may become more severe as times goes on and the refusal to repent becomes deeper. Drifting soon becomes absence and absence often becomes outright hostility to anything religious or biblical.
Another way that some avert their eyes from heaven is to redefine God. The revealed God of Scripture is replaced by a designer God who does not care about this thing or that. “God doesn’t care if I go to church, or shack up with my girlfriend etc.” On being shown scripture quite contrary to their distorted notions of God they simply respond that Paul had hangups, or that the Bible was written in primitive times.
Culturally the refusal to look heavenward is manifest in the increasing hostility to the Catholic Christian faith. Demands growing increasingly strident that anything even remotely connected to the faith be removed from the public square. Prayer in public, nativity sets, Church Bells, any reference to Jesus or Scripture in schools, etc. It must all be removed according to the radical seculars who refuse to turn their eyes heavenward or even have anything around that reminds them to do so.
The cumulative effect is that many are no longer looking to heaven or to God. Having suppressed their conscience they now demand a Godless public square. Still others reinvent a fake God, a false kingdom, an idol. Either way, the purpose is to isolate and insulate the self from God and what he reveals.
This makes it easier to maintain the rather exhausting effort of suppressing the conscience.
So for these men in the story, step two in engaged and it further supports the suppression of conscience necessary to commit sin without the pain of guilt.
3. And did not keep in mind just judgment– Finally lets throw in a little presumption which dismisses any consequences for evil acts. This of course is one of THE sins of our current age. There are countless people, even many Catholics in the pew and clergy too who seem outright to deny that they will ever have to answer to God for what they have done. But of course this is completely contrary to Scripture that insists that we will indeed answer one day to God for what we have done.
This final stage of presumption is meant to eliminate the salutary fear that should accompany evil acts. The sinner at this stage has had some success in alleviating the psychic pain of guilt and even a lot of the fear that used to accompany sin when the voice of conscience was less layered over and muted.
But, even after suppressing the conscience and refusing heaven’s influence, still some fear remains so now an attack is made on any notion of consequences. Perhaps the sinner exaggerates the mercy and patience of God to the exclusion of God’s holiness which sin cannot endure. Perhaps he denies the reality of hell which God clearly teaches. Perhaps he denies that God exists at all and holds that there is no judgment to be faced. However he does it, he must push back the fear the punishment and/or judgment.
Here then is the anatomy of sin. Having suppressed the conscience, the voice of God to the extent possible and having removed oneself from heaven’s influence, and then denying that anything of negative consequence will come, one is freer to sin gravely. It is as though one has taken a number of stiff drinks and anesthetized himself sufficiently to proceed without pain.
But guess what, it’s still there deep down inside. The voice of conscience remains. Under all the layers of stinking thinking and attempts to insulate oneself from the true God, deep down the sinner still knows what he is doing is wrong. Even the slightest thing to prick his conscience causes increasing unease. Anger, projection, name-calling, ridiculing of anyone or anything awaken his conscience will increasing be resorted to. Sin is in full bloom now and repentance seems increasingly difficult or unlikely. Only great prayers and fasting by others for him will likely spring him loose from the deep moral sleep he is currently in. Pray for the conversion of sinners.
Well, since this post has been a little heavy it might be good to end on a lighter note:
The Gospel for Mass this past Saturday contains one line that deserves some attention from us. At one level it seems like a mere scene-ender, a line that merely ends a section and has the dramatis personae (cast of characters) walk of stage. But as most who have any familiarity with Scripture know, there is perhaps not one wasted syllable in the whole text, especially in John’s Gospel. Quite profoundly, there is not one word or syllable that should be merely cast aside as filler when the Holy Spirit is at work inspiring the sacred authors.
The line in question appears in the 7th Chapter of John’s Gospel at the end of a debate among the Temple leaders as to the identity of Jesus. They wrestle with the question of who Jesus is and if he is or is not the coming Messiah, and also the eternal Son of the Father as he claims.
The majority of the interlocutors reject Jesus out of hand based on mistaken notions and due to the fact that he comes from Galilee and “no Prophet has EVER come from Galilee! One of their number, Nicodemus, encourages them to be more open to the possibilities and have greater command of the facts before rendering judgement. After much debate the pericope (passage) ends thus:
Then each went to his own house. (John 7:53)
This line ought not be overlooked, since, if we allow it, it invites great significance. Let’s consider three ways of seeing this line. We can distinguish here three rather separate understandings: an inward meaning, and outward meaning and an eternal meaning.
1. At the inward level each one returning to his own house can be understood as descriptive of how we must ultimately enter into the “house” of our our soul. We must all go to that deep, inner room of our heart and mind, that place were we are alone with our God, that place were we ponder and reflect, where we deliberate and discern.
This is that place where we must ultimately decide for ourselves the deepest questions of life: who am I? Who is God? What is the meaning of my life? What am I doing and why. Who is the man (or woman) that God has made me to be? Yes, here is that deep inner sanctum, the holy place where we are alone with God.
Too often, when we are with others, there is posturing by us. Too easily do we merely seek to conform in response to pressure and other social influences. In these sorts of settings there is often undue influence from persuasion or excessive human respect, from group pressure and group dynamics. In a word, there is posturing.
But there comes a moment when we are summoned by the Lord to come apart, to go to our own house, to enter into that quiet place of our innermost self and answer the deeper questions, and listen carefully to voice of God that echoes in our heart. (cf Catechism # 1776).
In the cited Gospel above, the Temple leader have had their debate. They have sought to influence one another. Some have experienced pressure and persuasive argumentation. Many of them also likely experienced the human tendency to ingratiate themselves to others and to fit in by speaking in certain ways they perceive will advance them in the opinion of others.
Now all that posturing is over and it is time for each man to go, each to his own house and there privately ponder and decide what he really thinks. Yes, it is decision time. The Lord is calling a question: who do YOU say that I am? It is time for these men to go to their own house and be face to face with God.
Sadly today, many reject this requirement to “go to our own house” and to deeply reflect. Most take little time today to enter the room of their own soul. In our modern world, with its extensive distractions, most prefer to flip on the T.V. rather to “go to their own house.”
But ultimately we cannot wholly evade this call from God to decide inwardly, in that inner room of our own “house” who God is, and how we will respond to him. For those who go on too long refusing to go to their own house, God has ways of supplying it anyway. Maybe its one of those sleepless at 3:00 AM moments. Maybe it is a time of crisis that provokes soul searching. But ultimately, at some moment each of us must “go to his own house” that there reflect quietly with God, away from social pressures, away from posture. And there we, alone with God must face the deepest questions.
2. At the outward level, this text involves a very different perspective, an insight that is almost opposite. For, while it is of critical importance to go to that secret place, that house of our own soul and there reflect with God, it is also of critical importance to stay connected to the reality that is outside our house. Thus, in saying that each of the Temple leaders went off to his own house, there may also be understood the human tendency to go off and live in our own little world, to retreat for any evidence we don’t like, to avoid anything that challenges our worldview.
Jesus had earlier confronted these Temple leaders with evidence of his divinity and his identity as Messiah and Lord. He spoke to them of his miracles, of his fulfillment of prophecy, of the Testimony of John the Baptist, and of the Father’s voice echoing in their hearts. (cf John 5:31-47).
But for many of us there is the tendency merely to retreat to our own little world, our own house, no matter the evidence. In effect we retreat from reality to our own made up world.
There is an old saying, “Don’t Believe everything you think.” For, we tend to think something is so just because we think it or agree with it.
There is another saying, “Who is an adviser to himself has a fool for a counselor.” Yet too easily we take counsel merely with our self. Or, we surround ourselves only with teachers who tickle our ears.
Thus, these Temple leaders, though having been confronted with many facts that point to the veracity of Jesus’ identity as Lord and Messiah, choose instead to brush it off and merely to go each of them to his own house, his own little world.
Further they err with the facts, for they argue that the Messiah had to be born in Bethlehem, but Jesus was born in Galilee. But of course their command of the facts is poor here, for Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
Never mind all that, they just go off to their own house, to their own little world. And too often many do exactly this.
The challenge for us all to live in reality, not merely in the confines of our own house, our own little world, our own (sometimes flawed or incomplete) thoughts.
3. The Third and eternal implication is the ultimate home, the ultimate destination to which we all journey. Thus when the text says they all went each to his own house, it may also refer to that place where they will dwell for all eternity. Where that house is, in heaven or hell, depends on our stance regarding Jesus.
These Temple leaders, having scoffed at Jesus, now head off each to their home. Sadly, no one comes to the Father except through Jesus, and thus their home is somewhere other than the heart of the Father.
There is an old saying, “You made your bed, now lie in it.” And thus, you and I too must choose where to make our home. And where that is will depend on our acceptance or rejection of Jesus.
There comes a day when each of us will have said of us: Then each went to his own house. Where will your house be?
Somehow I am reminded of an old song from my youth about that secret place of the heart:
The Gospel for today’s Mass is the well known Gospel of the woman caught in adultery. In this Gospel the Lord reasons with the men of his day (and with us) that the severe justice they want to render to this woman may be an unwise stance as they themselves prepare for their own judgment.
Before we look any further at the details of this Gospel consider with me a few background texts that may help us to grasp better what Jesus is teaching. After each verse I will give a brief commentary in red.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. (Matt 5:7) Notice here that it is the merciful who will obtain mercy. It is those who have shown proper mercy that will be granted mercy on the Day of judgment. By implication, the severe and those who lack mercy will be judged severely by the Lord.
Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:37-38) Here the text clearly states that if you or I use a severe standard of judgment or mercy or almsgiving, that same severe standard will be used by the Lord when he judges us. On the other hand if we are forgiving, merciful and generous then we can expect a merciful, generous and kind judgment from God.
Speak and act as those who are going to be judged under the law of freedom, for judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment! (James 2:12-13) Here too James warns us by reminding us first of all, that we are going to be judged by the Lord. Secondly, since we are free we are therefore responsible for what we do. Thirdly, since we are going to face this judgment in which we cannot pass off blame to others for what we have freely done we’d better realize that our judgment will be without mercy if we have not shown mercy. Ah but if we have shown mercy we stand a chance for mercy will triumph over strict judgment.
For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins (Mat 6:14-15) This warning seems clear enough that if we want to find forgiveness on the day of judgment we had better seek the grace to forgive others.
All of these texts seem to teach a bold truth that we are actually able to influence the standard that the Lord will use on the day of our judgment. The measure we use for others will be measured back to us. If we have been merciful we will find mercy. But if we have been harsh, unbending, and unmerciful, the Lord will use a far stricter standard by which to judge us.
We need to be sober about this. We are storing up things for the day of judgment by the way we treat others. Since we are all going to need boatloads of mercy and cannot endure strict standards of judgment, we ought well consider the need to be merciful and forgiving to others. Now on to the Gospel.
I. COLLABORATORS IN CONDEMNATION– The teachers of the law and the Pharisees bring a woman caught in the very act of adultery. It is clear she is guilty of this offense. (However a curiosity exists. She was caught in the very act, so the man involved is also surely known. Where is he and why has he not be brought forward? The Law of Moses also indicates that the man should be stoned).
Now the accusers want to throw the book at her. They want the most strict punishment meted out. They want her stoned. They also hope to discredit Jesus and think they have a no-win scenario for him.
In their accusatory stance, they have become collaborators with Satan. For Scripture describes Satan in this way: the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God (Rev 12:10). And thus, these Pharisees, in seeking to hand her over join Satan.
Emotionally, when we have been hurt in some way, many of us may wish to both accuse and demand punishment of the person before God. But such accusation is both unnecessary and unwise.
It is unnecessary because Satan is already accusing them “day and night” before God. It is also unnecessary because God sees and knows all things.
It is unwise for the reason we have already seen, for by demands for harsh punishment we set ourselves up to judged by the same standard. Cries for the grace and the conversion of sinners is always a better policy.
II. COUNTING THE COST – Jesus, who as God knows all their sins, must be amazed. Surely they cannot be serious in demanding this if they consider the day of their own judgment?!
He bends down and traces his finger on the ground almost as though his finger was tracing back and forth as he read a book of their own deeds. Some think perhaps he is writing their sins. Some think he is just “doodling” on the ground as a visual way of ignoring these men. Some recall that the finger of God that traced the Commandments on Stone. Still others recall the mysterious hand in the Book of Daniel who traces on the wall MENE, TEKEL, PERES announcing doom to the Babylonian King.
Whatever the case, it isn’t good. Don’t ever get Jesus writing stuff down about you!
But these Pharisees are slow to appreciate the significance. So Jesus tries to reason with them and says, “Let him among you who is without sin cast the first stone!” Then he bends down again and continues tracing or writing on the ground.
It is almost as though Jesus were saying to them (and to us):
Reason with me men, if you demand strict justice, if you insist that I throw “the book” at her, let’s first look and see what there is about you in “the book.” If she is to be judged strictly and without mercy, then you too will face the same standard you demand for her.
Gentlemen, there are things in the book about you, serious things. Have you counted the cost of condemning this woman? Are you sure you want to go on demanding that I throw the book at her?
Think about it men. Think very carefully about it….
One by one they go away. starting with the oldest who are presumably less rash than the younger, and may have more sins!
So the message for us is clear. We will face judgment. We need to be sober about this fact, we need to count the cost of our being unmerciful, unforgiving and vengeful. The measure that we use for others with be the measure God uses for us.
What kind of judgment are you preparing for yourself? Condemnation comes at a high cost. Are you willing to store up wrath and strict justice for the day of your judgment in this regard?
On the other hand, gentleness, compassionate correction, and merciful love will also be reckoned to us if we show it to others. Do the math, remember judgment. Or do you reckon more like the wise man who knows he will need grace and mercy on that day, and cannot meet a strict adjudication of his crimes.
III. CORRECTING WITH COMPASSION – The departure of the accusers leaves Jesus alone with the woman. And Jesus though gentle is clear. He says, Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.
This Gospel therefore does not make light of sin. Jesus knows well what she has done, and so does she. Jesus is clear that she must turn away from sin, not commit it anymore. What Jesus does set aside is the condemning “hang-em-high” mentality that seeks the harshest measures for every situation.
It remains true that we must sometimes correct sinners and meet out punishment. Yes, punishment is sometimes necessary, and at times it even falls to us to perform it. Perhaps we are a parent, a juror, or someone in a supervisory role.
But before we rush to the most extreme measures, we do well to show mercy and use lesser measures first.
St. Paul has good advice:Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should gently set him right. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted (Gal 6:1)
Gentle and clear correction is the best course, more significant punishments should be a later recourse. We must be careful not to be tempted to harshness, anger, lack of mercy and lack of love.
OK, you get the point: Count the Cost. Be VERY careful to remember that the measure you measure to others will be measured to you. Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.
Here’s a guy who got what he gave to others:
— Gotta Go to Calvary: The Ground is level at the Cross:
—
The Word Honesty comes from the honestas meaning an honor received from others, a kind of “standing in honor” before others (honor + stas (to stand)). It’s an interesting insight in the word that most people are willing to be a little phony in order to get vague appreciation or to be thought of well. (The whole cosmetics industry is based on this). But when one is actually “honored” in a formal way by others, there is an elevated sense that we need to truthfully deserve the honor. And thus honor calls forth honesty.
A similar concept is sincerity. The Word sincerity comes from the Latin as well: sine (without) + cera (wax). It seems that sculptors in the ancient world often used a hard, resin like wax, to hide their errors. But every now and then there was the perfect carving, with no wax, nothing phony about it, no coverups.
I thought about these words as I saw this commercial. In the ad the “honor” of engagement draws forth honesty and sincerity. The honesty of one person brings forth the honesty of the other and they both end up more relaxed in each others presence.
Back in February I gave a talk to a large group (300+) at the Blessed John Paul II Shrine here in Washington. The topic was a pastoral plan for the family. The video of that talk became available recently and I thought I’d share it here.
Again, the list is his. The inferior comments are mine.
