To foster in ourselves a spirit of humility, we must not only look back but also look forward. When we appear before our Lord to be judged, what reason we shall have for shame and for dismay! How can I who am so full of sin venture to face Him who sees through every disguise, and recognizes the true nature of every action? How can I meet Him who has witnessed deeds of evil hidden from the eyes of men, and wicked and uncharitable thoughts indulged in secret? When I think of that day, I must be humble.
Nothing will then be such a cause of shame to me as my pride. Nothing will so turn away the face of my Judge from me in anger. If God abhors the proud, how can I look forward to that day without trembling? Saint Teresa said that when she had the privilege of seeing our Blessed Lord in a vision, the prevailing thought in her mind was what a terrible thing it would be if He were to be angry with her. He will be angry with me, then, unless I learn more humility. O my God, make me humble at any cost!
What will be the punishment of pride? Will it be the fire of Hell that was prepared for the devil and his angels simply and solely because of their pride? None will endure such misery as the proud; not the gluttonous, or the impure, or the covetous, except so far as their other vices fostered pride in them. O my God, if nothing else will make me humble, grant that the thought of the lowest Hell, reserved for the proud, may conquer in me that hateful vice of pride.
- text from Humility, Thirty Short Meditations by Father Richard Frederick Clarke, SJ