Quiet Moments

 

There is an interesting historical parable about vanity.  In Vienna the emperors of the Austro-Hungarian Empire are buried in a Capuchin friary.  I suppose it was considered the humblest place to be buried.  The funeral procession would go from St. Vitus Cathedral down to the Capuchins.  The grand duke would ceremoniously knock on the locked doors of the friary.  A little window would open and the superior would say: “Who is it?”  The duke would answer something like this: “Franz Joseph, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, king of Hungary, margrave of such and such.”  The superior would say, “We don’t know him.”  So, he’d knock again.  “Who is there?”  “Franz Joseph, his most Catholic imperial majesty, elector of the Pope, etc.”  The answer would come again, “We don’t know him.”  The duke would knock a third time and the superior would say, “Who is there?”  Then the grand duke would say, “Franz Joseph, a wretched sinner who seeks a place to lay his bones.”  Then the door would open.  Only in death do some of us face the need to divest ourselves of the world’s vanity.  It would be wonderful if we could get over our sensitivities sooner.

                                    --- Quiet Moments, by Fr. Benedict Groeschel, chapter 27

 

In our lockdown for fear of spreading disease, we have lots of time this Advent.  I and others I know have chosen to pull books off our bookshelves, ones with lots of underlines in, to read and learn again things we thought important, but have since forgotten.  The book by Fr. Groeschel has 120 short stories like the one above, easy reading. 

In the one above, we see humility chosen in death.  I meditated some on humility after reading it.  I say the humility prayer each night; it is a prayer to accept being humbled, something hard to do --- but I’m getting better.  But there is another side to humility.  It is one thing to accept being humbled, by things beyond our control like this virus (or death), but it is another thing to choose humility, like St Francis whose feast day is today.  He chose a humble, simple, life and to live among the poor. 

I recently heard of someone thinking about downsizing their home, moving to a smaller home in their old age for various reasons you can guess.  The reasons are benefits to them of moving to a smaller living space.  It reminded me of one time long ago when I was welcoming new people into our parish, and often when I visited the young new-comers I found them in a huge house with little to no furniture.  They could afford the house, but not the furnishings ---yet.  They wanted the grand size and style because they thought they deserved it, kind of like the grand duke above thought he deserved great honors, even in death.  Wouldst that those young people I visited chose humility and bought a small (furnished) hut, which is all they needed, and found those who had more need of their other monies than themselves. 

Very few people choose humility, as Jesus did.  Yet, that is one of the examples of how to live that He became a man to show us.  Rather than focusing on Himself, He chose to love others.  That’s the example of His whole life, and what He set before us.  He said His pathway is narrow ---- certainly not fit for someone thinking himself deserving the riches of a king.

It’s something to think about this Advent, when we have so much time available.

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The mass readings in recent weeks have been telling us to prepare for His coming.  Many reflect on this in consideration of Christmas, Christ’s birth.  But the readings also were referring to His coming again.  They tell us to be prepared.  Some of my Zoom meeting groups discussed that.  Often the discussion wandered to things that need to be done in preparation for our death, like wills and legal papers, “my bucket list” of places I still want to go and things I still want to do, and a few spoke of going to some people to ask forgiveness, or to a long-loved one and saying something perhaps understood but rarely said:  “I love you.”  Few, however, would say they were prepared should Jesus come now, today.  And we discussed why not, and how we might become better prepared.  In general, we agreed that we would be better prepared if we knew Him better, and He knew us better --- if we prayed more, with the end in mind.  Jesus isn’t just someone in heaven, He is someone we will meet, perhaps very soon.  Advent might be a good time to prepare for His coming, to really prepare, to get to know Him better. 

And with our end and that meeting in mind, can we choose to be humble as He showed us, now? 

What will He say when we knock?