Throughout the centuries of Christianity, humility has been offered as one of, if not the most, important virtues we can exercise. Francis certainly lived this out. 

So what is humility? We often think of it as “thinking less of ourselves.” That is simply not true. A more accurate description is “thinking of ourselves less.” Humility really means seeing ourselves as the Lord sees us, living in total truth before Him. Francis put it this way: “What a person is before God, that he is and no more.” God does not see us as anything but beloved children. Flawed, yes. Sinful, yes. Imperfect, yes. But not unloved and not unlovable. 

Francis based his humility on the humility of Christ. He marveled that Jesus emptied Himself through the Incarnation, being born in a stable and laid in a manger, that Jesus did the Father’s will in submitting to death, and that He is humble enough to become present in simple bread and wine. 

He exercised great humility through his service to lepers and the destitute. Francis saw each person as part of God’s creation, a beloved son or daughter of the Father, and a brother or sister equal in dignity to himself. 

When Francis would preach and crowds would hail him, he truly believed that if God had given the same grace to a criminal, that criminal would have used it even better than he had. 

Perhaps the most obvious sign of Francis’ humility is in the very name he chose for the Order. The name Friars Minor (Lesser Brothers) was an intentional choice to remind them to take the lowest rank in society. 

Humility is not self-hatred, but truth. It recognizes our total dependence on God and strips away our need for pride, ego, and earthly status. 

This week, let us seek humility as Francis did, trusting that God knows best and that we are His beloved children, flawed but never unloved.