A Lesson in Humility

Written by a follower of SDM

It has occurred to me within the last week, the very thing causing me to anguish over loss of previous church relationships of another denomination, abundant blessings from ministries in that denomination and recognition for those ministries, is the virtue of humility. This very virtue if not recognized, can cause prideful feelings to creep into the soul which in turn can keep one from intimacy with Christ.

I recently was privileged to attend Vespers with the Conferral of Pontifical Honors at the Cathedral of St. Patrick’s in downtown Ft. Worth, Texas. A new Catholic friend of mine and future spiritual advisor was receiving the Benemerenti Medal for her work within the diocese in forming the Permanent Deacon program. This medal was created by Pope Pius VI in the late 1700’s in recognition of those individuals who have exemplified service in the Church. Following this service all were invited to attend a reception in a very large and new parish hall adjacent to the Cathedral. It was an enormous hall with many faces, none of whom I knew. Fifteen individuals received the various medals and of course many families and friends from local parishes were in attendance.

As I made my way around the room with a friend from St. Andrew’s, which is now my parish, I came to the realization this was the first very large reception I was attending at a Catholic function in which I knew no one. Having lived in Ft. Worth for the past 30+ years, been active in the Methodist community and a part of the pastoral family of ministers, this was an eye opening experience and very humbling for me. Had it been at a Methodist gathering, I would have known many of the pastors and laity and felt very much at home. Here I was just another Catholic in a sea of faces unknown to them and likewise they were unknown to me.

The Bible Alone

Does the student know better than the teacher?

Catholic or?

Like many other Catholics in recent times who selectively dismiss the teaching authority of the Church, I know first hand this mindset and its common root. Although now reconfirmed in my faith, for many years I was a Catholic with “Protestant” ideologies, distant from the authority of the Church. Not a Protestant in the communal sense as formally belonging to or attending an established congregation; I was baptized and raised Catholic and didn’t know much about Protestantism back then other than some fundamental disbelief's they possessed. I was Protestant in the sense that Protestantism was conceived. As scripture tells us; “For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths.” (2 Timothy CH4; v3-4)

Each Catholic who selectively chooses what doctrines he or she will and will not abide by possesses that seed that sprouted into Protestantism four centuries ago and its subsequent thousands upon thousands of splintered systems of beliefs today.