Back on Ash Wednesday, I went to morning Mass and received ashes on my forehead. During the homily, the priest asked the congregation to wear their ashes all day. He said we should let people know that we are Catholic by our ashes. He also said, “Wear your ashes with pride. Be proud to be Catholic.”
I do understand what the priest meant. We live in a time and place where Catholicism is on the wane. Church buildings are being shuttered, people are leaving the Church in droves, and our modern secular culture doesn’t hesitate to mock Catholics and our beliefs at every turn. So, it’s important for those of us who remain in the Church to take a stand once in a while. If we wear ashes on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday, we’re offering this silent statement: “I am Catholic and my faith is important to me, and I’m not ashamed to let other people know it.”
I’m sure that’s what the priest meant. But when he said, “Wear your ashes with pride,” I had to cringe. You see, pride is really not a good thing. In fact, Scripture makes it clear that pride is the first and worst of all sins.
C.S. Lewis was possibly the greatest Christian writer of the 20th century. He discussed the sin of pride in his classic book, Mere Christianity. Lewis wrote: “…the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed and drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.”
Whoa! The complete anti-God state of mind? That’s not good. But what exactly is so wrong with pride? According to Lewis, “Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. We say that people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good-looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer, or cleverer, or better-looking than others….It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest.”
I’m sure that’s what the priest meant. But when he said, “Wear your ashes with pride,” I had to cringe. You see, pride is really not a good thing. In fact, Scripture makes it clear that pride is the first and worst of all sins.
C.S. Lewis was possibly the greatest Christian writer of the 20th century. He discussed the sin of pride in his classic book, Mere Christianity. Lewis wrote: “…the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed and drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.”
Whoa! The complete anti-God state of mind? That’s not good. But what exactly is so wrong with pride? According to Lewis, “Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. We say that people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good-looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer, or cleverer, or better-looking than others….It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest.”
Hmm, so that’s the key. If we are comparing ourselves to others, and thinking that we’re better than they are and looking down our noses at them, then sinful pride is at work in us.
If we left morning Mass on Ash Wednesday and kept those ashes on our foreheads as we went out in public, what was the message we were trying to send? Were we trying to say, “I am a member of the one true Church that Jesus Himself founded, and those of you who are NOT Catholic are in big trouble!”?
If so, we can be sure that sinful pride is at work in our hearts, and therefore, WE are the ones who are in big trouble.
On the other hand, did we wear ashes to say, “I’m grateful to have a relationship with the Lord Jesus, through the teachings and Sacraments of the Church, and I’m thankful that God forgives me even though I’m a sinner.”
If that is the true sentiment of our hearts, then pride is not at work in us.
In Christian theology, there is a virtue that is the exact opposite of sinful pride. This virtue is humility. Humility is knowing that all the good things we have are gifts from God, and therefore we should not brag about them. Humble people are grateful, not arrogant.
If you’re proud to be Catholic because you think that makes you better than people who are not, then you’re doing it all wrong. But if you’re humbly grateful to be Catholic, because, as St. Peter said to Jesus, “You have the words of eternal life,” then you’re doing it right.
If we left morning Mass on Ash Wednesday and kept those ashes on our foreheads as we went out in public, what was the message we were trying to send? Were we trying to say, “I am a member of the one true Church that Jesus Himself founded, and those of you who are NOT Catholic are in big trouble!”?
If so, we can be sure that sinful pride is at work in our hearts, and therefore, WE are the ones who are in big trouble.
On the other hand, did we wear ashes to say, “I’m grateful to have a relationship with the Lord Jesus, through the teachings and Sacraments of the Church, and I’m thankful that God forgives me even though I’m a sinner.”
If that is the true sentiment of our hearts, then pride is not at work in us.
In Christian theology, there is a virtue that is the exact opposite of sinful pride. This virtue is humility. Humility is knowing that all the good things we have are gifts from God, and therefore we should not brag about them. Humble people are grateful, not arrogant.
If you’re proud to be Catholic because you think that makes you better than people who are not, then you’re doing it all wrong. But if you’re humbly grateful to be Catholic, because, as St. Peter said to Jesus, “You have the words of eternal life,” then you’re doing it right.
Speaking of pride and humility reminds me of an old joke: there once was a boy who won a medal in school for being “The Most Humble Boy in Class.” But they had to take the medal away … because he insisted on wearing it.
Don’t wear your medals with pride. (This includes ashes on your forehead.) Instead, be humble and grateful. The Lord loves a contrite heart.
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