The consciousness of past sin will not of itself give us the perfection of humility. It necessarily fixes the eye of the soul upon ourselves and our own doings, whereas perfect humility means the annihilation of self. We have a deeper and more solid foundation for this virtue in our own nothingness, and the absence of any sort of good save that which God has given us. Every gift of nature is simply a free gift from Him. All that is from ourselves is the marring and injuring of what we have received; the misuse of talents, money, position, influence. What folly, then, to pride ourselves on what belongs to God.
Regarding supernatural gifts, we are still mere nothing and less than nothing. Our natural gifts are put into our hands, they remain with us and are in some sense ours; but a supernatural gift requires a fresh giving immediately from the hand of God each time that it is given us. We cannot begin any supernatural work without His preventing grace; we cannot move a step in it without fresh grace to carry on; we cannot bring it to a successful issue without the grace necessary to complete it. Do I realize, as I ought, this nothingness of myself and my absolute and continual dependence upon God for each thought or act pleasing to Him?
If this is so, how can I be anything but humble? To pride myself on what God does in me would be ridiculous; to pride myself on what I can do of myself would be to pride myself on all that mars and spoils the work of God. "What hast thou that thou hast not received?" asks Saint Paul. Yes, O Lord, I have only one thing that I have not received, and that is my vileness, misery, sin. Can I boast of these?
- text from Humility, Thirty Short Meditations by Father Richard Frederick Clarke, SJ