"I love you, and I want you to go to Heaven."

In situations where I might have been overconfident or cocky as a child, my Mimi would always utter that saying "Pride goeth before the fall" with a knowing look in her eye. In all my childhood wonder, I had no idea what she really meant. Little did I know at that tender age that Mimi was giving me my first lessons in humility. Needless to say, the saying has stuck with me through the years and I've found myself pondering it quite a bit recently, especially after realizing it's Biblical roots:

"Get wisdom, because it is better than gold: and purchase prudence, for it is more precious than silver. The path of the just departeth from evils: he that keepeth his soul keepeth his way. Pride goeth before destruction: and the spirit is lifted up before a fall. It is better to be humbled with the meek, than to divide spoils with the proud. The learned in word shall find good things: and he that trusteth in the Lord is blessed." -Proverbs 16: 16-20 (Douay-Rheims)

Pride. It's a dirty, dirty vice that we can't help but to feel at one point or another. It's arguably a part of the human condition. Saint Augustine defines pride as "the love of one's own excellence." As one of the Seven Deadly Sins, pride is the sin that lends itself as the probable source of the other six: St. Thomas Aquinas even considers it the "queen of all vices" where man, "through love of his own worth aims to withdraw himself from subjection to Almighty God." (Catholic Encyclopedia)

Admittedly, however, often-times we commit acts of pride through sheer ignorance. As a society, we've become so consumed in the rat race to get to the top that we'll do pretty much anything to be seen in a better light than others: We want to be more successful, have better things, and downplay the accomplishments of others so that we look the best that we possibly can.

Thankfully, the Catechism outlines cardinal virtues that gives us a nudge in the right direction, away from vices that we don't even realize are consuming our lives. Among these is temperance, or the ability to control one's desires. Humility is encompassed within the domain of temperance because to be humble is to realize that you have faults and defects, and that you submit yourself to God. St. Thomas Aquinas suggests that with humility, we keep ourselves "within [our] own bounds, not reaching out to things above [us], but submitting to [our] superior." (Catholic Encyclopedia)

Something I found really interesting in researching pride and humility for this post is that while pride is the "queen of the vices" according to Aquinas, humility is not the greatest of the virtues. In fact, it's considered among the lowest, but by being humble and recognizing just how small we actually are, it removes an obstacle (pride) and allows FAITH to work in our lives. Interesting, eh?

Recently, I heard an awesome homily from an equally as awesome priest on the subject of pride (in fact, it was just this past weekend - here's the Gospel from Sunday if you're interested). He made a great point: "A sin is a sin, but to judge someone's heart is a dangerous thing." If we go around, haughtily thinking we're all that AND a bag of chips (colloquially speaking on my part, not the priest's) and, by extension, lift ourselves up at the expense of other people, you know, we may actually get somewhere in this life.

But... what about the next life?

This one night at a bar (in this town and in my life right now, that appears to be where many of my theologically based conversations take place but I digress...), a close, non-religious friend of mine asked me, point blank, to "operationalize" my faith. In a nut shell, what is it that makes me so sure about everything? I looked at him without skipping a beat and responded: "My purpose in this life on earth is to attain Heaven." In that moment, on Court Street no less, it was as if you could hear a pin drop... I actually made him speechless. What's more, he couldn't argue with me.

A glimpse of Court Street where there are 20+ bars within just a few blocks.
Photo Courtesy of Humdrum

It's a sound argument.. if you have the faith. And the easiest way to keeping the faith is to try and get rid of the excess things in our lives that only serve to bring us down. I know I will continue to struggle with pride and other things in my life, but thankfully God is kind and merciful. We should strive to be more like Him - and even take on the mindset that while it is our purpose on earth to attain Heaven, it's also our purpose on earth to help others attain Heaven as well.

(Hope that didn't come off as too "preachy"... that wasn't my intent!)

+JMJ+