The Cross Walk Part 8: Virtues that Enable Self-Denial Part A
So, we have considered spiritual or devotional practices or daily committed actions to conform us to Jesus’ self-denial as an important reality and dimension of His Cross Walk. Let’s now explore important Virtues that enable, operationalize or place into motion the working of sanctifying grace unto Self-Denial:
Faith: We heard earlier how overcoming or dying to self-trust and turning to greater trust in God is central to the Self-Denial dimension of Jesus’ Cross Walk. As we come to trust less in ourselves and more in God, we find our faith growing as well. In fact, it is this Theological Virtue of Faith that assists us in doing so, for as sanctifying grace grows in us, so does the Theological Virtue of Faith.
The Theological Virtues are those very attributes of God’s divine nature by which we partake of and participate in by grace through Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. The Theological Virtues relate directly to God. In the Theological Virtues, God is giving of Himself; hence, the word “theological” or “theo” = “of God”. They dispose Christians to live in relationship with the Holy Trinity and have God as their origin, motive and goal or end. They are the foundation of all the other virtues and give life and character to them.
“The Theological Virtues are infused into the soul by God to make us capable of acting as His children and make us fit for eternal life. They are the pledge of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit in the very faculties of the human being.”[i] There are three Theological Virtues, and Saint Paul references them in 1 Corinthian 13: Faith, Hope and Charity.” Catechism of the Catholic Church, ¶1813
Furthermore, Faith is found in continuous conversion, which is also at the heart of Self-Denial. Through self-denial we make a complete “turnabout” from a self-centric approach to life to a God-centric one. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, later to become Pope Benedict XVI, would write in his work, Introduction of Christianity:
“[Faith] signifies an ‘about turn’ by the whole person that from then on constantly structures one’s existence…a shift of being.
Humility: Growth in the virtue of humility is a hallmark of growth in the spiritual life. Humility is the powerful antidote to Pride and self-centeredness. We recall Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector praying in the Temple in Luke 18:9-14:
“9 He then addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. 10 “Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity—greedy, dishonest, adulterous—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’ 13 But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ 14 I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Many saints refer to the virtue of humility as “the first step toward heaven”. Humility address our Intellect, Volition or Will and Words/Works:
Intellect: We know and judge ourselves in a balanced way (defects and dignity) before God and others. Humility reminds us that God’s love is the cause of all goodness in the created oder, including ourselves. Second Council of Orange (529): “The only thing each man has of himself is untruth and sin.” Humility leads us to be ever mindful of the immeasurable distance between God’s excellence and ourselves as well as keep us in an attitude of inferiority in relation to our neighbor. We must also be on guard against false humility.
Volition or Will: Humility helps us to regulate our hopes for greatness so that we recognize our limitations, shortcomings, strengths, etc. so that we do not strive for a greatness we are not suited for. This virtue postures us in reverence and charity towards others at all times..
Words/Actions: Saint Benedict states, “The humble [person] avoids singularity in deeds, despair in words, not given to loudness, bears himself modestly,…”. Here we are reminded of Jesus’ teaching so applicable during Lent in which we do not imitate the Pharisees when we fast or pray by drawing attention to ourselves and trumpeting our good works; rather, our right and left hand do not know what each are doing. Here, humility leads us to dwell in the hiddenness and secrecy of excellence in good works and charity.
Saint Teresa of Avila remarks in her work, The Interior Castle, “Humility must always be doing its work like a bee making its honey in the hive; without humility all will be lost.”
Next time, we will consider the Virtue of Poverty. “I show you O Lord all my wounds and let you see all my shame. I know that my sins are great and many and that I have reason to fear, but I trust in Thy mercies which are beyond numbering.” Saint Ambrose
