Pride

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Catholic tradition identifies pride as the most dangerous vice. It heads the list of capital sins. It is the most subtle, the most “spiritual” of sins. It is the sin of the devil. Satan cannot commit sins of the flesh. (He has no flesh.) But he can commit the sin of pride. Pride caused the fall of the human race. It is the sin that Our Lord condemned most directly. Tax collectors, prostitutes, and adulterers elicited his mercy, but the proud earned his sharp rebuke. In the parable of the Pharisee and the publican, it was the humble man, in spite of his many faults, who “went home justified.”

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Why is pride so pernicious? St. Thomas defines pride as the immoderate love of one’s own excellence. When I am in love with my own excellence, it blinds me to the good in others. Instead of celebrating their achievements, I feel threated by them. More than any other sin, pride destroys my ability to love God or to love others.

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When I was in high school, I wanted to be a guitar player. I wasn’t particularly good, but I still got some satisfaction from other’s praise. The compliments fed my vanity, and I nurtured the completely unreasonable hope that I might someday be a famous musician. My longing for celebrity far outstripped my talent. It exceeded even the modest pleasure I derived from the instrument itself.

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There were one or two other guitarists at my school, and I certainly wasn’t the best. I remember the day one of them landed the guitarist role in the school orchestra. I didn’t really want the job, but I was incensed that someone other than me would be chosen. Needless to say, I didn’t enjoy the final performance at all. Furthermore, I wouldn’t have minded if the other fellow had gotten sick or was prevented from playing for some other reason. Not only could I not appreciate his talent, but I couldn’t even wish him well. When taken to extremes, pride can make us wish ill on someone else.

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Where does this sinful pride come from? Catholic faith teaches that we are wounded as a result of original sin. Tradition identifies four such wounds: ignorance, concupiscence, malice, and weakness. We are ignorant of our true end, of what makes us truly happy. We are immoderately attached to pleasure. We are inclined to love our own good more than the good of another. And we lack to strength to do the arduous good.

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Of these four, ignorance and malice incline us most to pride. We have a hard time recognizing the true worth and value of others, unless we are trained to it. It is even harder to recognize the dignity and honor of God. Without trust in God’s providence and faith in his goodness, we are doubtful and insecure. We scramble to build up our sense of worth even at other’s expense.

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The antidote to pride, as with all sin, is the knowledge of God and the experience of his grace. Usually, this comes to us in a moment of crisis or suffering, when we realize how hollow our achievements are and how little they are worth. The things we previously valued and sought after suddenly seem insignificant in light of the transcendent beauty of another person, or the hope of eternal life.

We can nourish this experience of grace through the life of prayer. The honest examination of conscience in light of Christ, the practice of frequent confession, and the positive determination to admit fault are enormously beneficial. Through prayer, Scripture reading, meditation, and frequenting the sacraments, we also cultivate an appreciation of true beauty and goodness. With God’s grace, we learn to see our own excellence in a larger context. We place our gifts and talents at the service of the Church, the family, and society. It’s not necessary to renounce our talents, but to enjoy and appreciate them in the proper context.

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True humility is not hatred of self. It is not an abased, abject state of mind. Instead, it is full of hope and confidence in God. I think that Pope Benedict XVI offers us a heroic example of this humility. Joseph Ratzinger is one of the most talented theologians in the history of the Christian Church. He brought all that brilliance and wide experience into the papacy. He didn’t renounce his talents, but made full use of them, as anyone reading his works can see. But when he felt the Church would be better served by a younger man, he did what no Pope has done for centuries. He stepped aside. That is true humility.

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