True Humility

A Reflection on the Second Reading for Sunday, March 24, 2024: 
​Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord

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Philippians
2:6-11

Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross.
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Therefore God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

​Pause. Pray. Reflect.

True humility is something our broken human nature rails against. For us as humans, it means acknowledging that we aren’t the be all and end all of this world. It requires us to suppress our desire for celebration, praise, and self-assertion. And even when we most think we’re succeeding at humility, how often are we secretly harbouring some pride at our grand displays of humility? Even that effort feels tainted by our desire to be perceived as humble.

Today’s reading reminds us of what true humility should actually look like. It rests on the foundation of true dignity, goodness, and worthiness. Jesus, who is God, chose to take on our human flesh, with all of its challenges and weaknesses. He experienced pain, suffering, and death. He had the divine right to come down and flaunt His power as God, to take an earthly throne as King, and to avoid all suffering. He could have bent heaven and earth to His will and forced all to believe in Him. 

And yet, He didn’t. Even though He is worthy of all praise, He allowed Himself to be considered among the last and the least. To be treated like trash. To be killed alongside criminals and thieves in the most brutal, scandalous way.

He did it all, not so that we would praise Him, but so that He could save us. His motivation wasn’t to magnify Himself, but to raise us up from our wretched state. That is true humility, to work with the motivation to serve others.

Because of our broken human nature, humility does not come to us naturally. We fight against it with every cell of our selfish human bodies. To seek true humility, we have to then seek its source — Jesus Himself. Every other attempt to force ourselves to be humble is tainted by our desire to seem humble or our selfish internal monologue. 

The best and truest way to work on our humility is through prayer. It is only through the intervention of the Holy Spirit that we can become more like Jesus. One prayer that is especially helpful is the Litany of Humility. This beautiful prayer addresses many of the most common obstacles for our humility and invites us to ask Jesus for the grace to desire the good. As we enter into Holy Week, this prayer provides powerful insight into the heart of Jesus. 

God, grant me the grace to desire a heart like Your Son.




Stéphanie Potter

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