Humiliation is a very painful thing, and our pride shrinks from it. Yet it is a necessary step to humility. We must be humbled in order that we may be humble. We must learn not to shun dishonor if we are to learn not to crave honor from men. When some slight is shown us, when we are passed over or put down, or judged unfairly, we have an excellent opportunity of advancing in humility by accepting with patience and resignation the contempt and dishonor, and not attempting to defend ourselves or assert our rights and our claim to be treated with consideration and respect.
When we commit some fault which causes others to think less of us, we should be full of sorrow at the thought of having offended God, and given dis-edification to our neighbor, but we must not seek to shun the just contempt we have deserved, or allow ourselves to be miserable at the thought of being despised. On the contrary, we must be content to be esteemed according to our merits, and must thank God for teaching us this lesson, and giving us a greater insight into ourselves.
It is a sure sign of pride if we seek to shirk the consequences of our fault as Saul did when he begged Samuel still to honor him before the ancients of Israel (1 Kings 15:30). Such conduct only brings fresh humiliations. God, who resists the proud, always brings down those who refuse to humble themselves. The devils who would not willingly bow the knee before Christ made Man were forced to do so. God sooner or later will force all the proud, willingly or unwillingly, to bow before Him.
- text from Humility, Thirty Short Meditations by Father Richard Frederick Clarke, SJ