"Humility helps us in all four areas of our vocation. In the family it helps us to appreciate each other and realize that we depend on and contribute to one another. Humility means we value each other for our existence, not for our accomplishments. We don't have to be perfect to be loved. When our families model this, they will be living out the best sort of domestic church, where all are welcomed, accepted, loved, and forgiven. Parents should be the models of servant leadership and train their children to work for the good of the family, not just of themselves. When those children grow up, parents need to step back and trust their now adult children to handle their lives. Humility makes the space for love to flourish in the family.
"In our workplace it is harder to see humility as a virtue. It is often confused with being a doormat and letting others take credit for our work. That is not what it means, since humility is truth. It means that everyone, from the executive vice president to the janitor, is part of the team that gets things done. It means owning up to failures. It means going against the culture of many workplaces, where the office politics breed a climate of fear, suspicion, and backbiting. No one can thrive in such an environment. No individual can change the entire culture of an organization, but each of us can refuse to play the games, abstain from the backbiting, and get on with the job. . . .
"In the neighborhood, humility reminds us of the importance of everyone in our community and should jolt us out of our complacency when our brothers and sisters are in want, taken advantage of, and pushed to the margins. When we vote, we need to vote not for our self-interest, but for the common good, with special attention to the needs of those who are poor. When we volunteer, we need to remember that the people we serve are also serving us. When we run the youth sports teams, we can build this kind of healthy humility which recognizes players' strengths and weaknesses and encourages them to work together for the best results.
"In our faith community, we should be reminded of the humility of Christ, who put himself into our hands so that we could kill him. Parishes, like all human communities, suffer from our egos and our need to compete with others. Yet it is here that we should become what we pray. When we confess our sins at the beginning of Mass, we should truly repent. When we pass the peace, we should be turning into true peacemakers. We should come out of Sunday Mass reminded that we are loved by God and empowered by the Spirit to go into the world and love it the way Jesus did. We will know we are making progress when we let someone cut in front of us in the parking lot without getting angry."
