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Message from the Provincial Minister
TRUE HUMILITY - I
(Admonition: XXIV)
 Admonition
24 of St Francis of Assisi deals with the subject of "true humility".
The main features of "true humility" elaborated in this admonition are
the following: 1. A truly humble person is unassuming in his behavior.
2. He is always ready to be corrected; 3. He atones for his offences
interiorly by contrition and exteriorly by confessing and making
reparation.
What do we mean by unassuming behavior? It means that a humble person
has a correct "self image" or a right "self understanding" and does
not put on artificiality in his conduct. The statement of St Paul, "I
am what I am by the grace of God" affirms a true self understanding of
himself. Jesus asserted, "Come to me. I am meek and humble of heart"
(Mt. 11, 28-29). This is the self understanding of Jesus as he
considered himself as a "Servant of God".
Frederich Nietzsche has on the other hand given to the world the
concept of a 'Superman' who affirms his ego, through an appropriation
of temporal realities. For him power, prosperity and pleasure are the
means of self fulfillment. In opposition, for St. Francis the
evangelical virtues of obedience, poverty and chastity are the means
for self-realization and the appropriation of heavenly kingdom. He is
the "super-religious", because he transcended the principles of power,
prosperity and pleasure. Pride and arrogance are the manifestations of
'superman'; meekness and humility are the manifestations of the
disciple of the Lord. This does not mean that a disciple should not be
courageous and bold. Jesus who asserted "I am meek and humble of
heart" also declared publicly the Pharisees and Scribes as
"hypocrites", drove away ruthlessly the people who were selling and
buying in the temple and questioned the soldier who slapped him on his
cheek. Acting unassumingly and with humility does not mean that we
should be afraid of our adversaries but it can certainly mean we are
daring to defend truth against all odds.
(to be continued.)
Br. Vincent Gabriel Furtado OFM Cap
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