WEEK 1: PRIDE
HUMIILITY
OPENING song
(Tune: O God, Our Help in Ages Past)
O God of mercy, by whose hand, your people still are fed;
Who through this weary pilgrimage have all our fathers led:
Our vows, our prayers, we now present before your throne of grace:
God of our fathers, be the God of each succeeding race.
Through each perplexing path of life our wand’ring footsteps guide;
Give us each day our daily bread, your care for us provide.
O spread your shelt’ring wings around, till all our wand’rings cease,
And at our Father’s loved abode our souls arrive in peace!
Such blessings from your gracious hand our humble prayers implore;
And you shall be our chosen God and portion everymore.

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OPENING PRAYER
A New Heart by Bishop Robert F. Morneau (The 11 Qualities of Holiness)
Give me a pure heart, that I may see thee … a humble heart, that I may hear thee,
a heart of love, that I may serve thee … a heart of faith, that I may abide in thee,
a heart of courage, that I may follow thee … a heart of joy, that I may sing with thee,
a heart of praise, that I may adore thee … a heart of gratitude, that I may thank thee,
a heart of kindness, that I may emulate thee … a heart of hospitality, that I may welcome thee,
a heart of hope, that I may trust in thee.
Obstacles to purity of heart were caused by phantasms or passions logismoy (Gr.), clouded the heart.
Evargius and Cassian described 8 logismoy: gluttony, fornication, avarice, anger, dejection (sadness),
acedia (boredom), vainglory, and pride.
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“Pride goes before the fall.” Proverbs 16:8
“The heart is a small vessel, but all things are contained in it. God is there, the
angels are there, and there is also life and the Kingdom, the heavenly cities, and
the treasures of grace.” - St. Dimitri of Rostov
“The man who has no inner life is the slave of his surroundings.” Henri Frederic
Amiel, Swiss Critic (1821-1881)
“There is a really deep well inside of us. And in it dwells God. Sometimes, I am there too. But more often stones and
grit block the well, and God is buried beneath. Then God must be dug out again.” - Etty Hillesum (dutch-Jewish
woman, who died in Auschwitz)
“According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Un-chastity, anger, greed, drunkenness
and all that, are mere flea bites in comparison; it was through Pride that the devil became the devil; pride leads to all
other vices: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.” -C.S. Lewis
“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.” -Proverbs 11:2
PRIDE:
1. A “high” and possibly excessively high estimation of one’s own worth or ability.
2. Arrogance or haughtiness, as it is rightly used to indicate what is the best in a person, place or thing.
“Vices can be classified according to the virtues they oppose or can be linked to the Capital Sins, which
Christian experience has distinguished, following St. John Cassian and St. Gregory the Great. They are
called “capital” because they engender other sins and vices. They are pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust,
gluttony and sloth (acedia).” CCC#1866
Through the centuries we have seen pride:
 In the 2nd part of his Divine Comedy, Dante used the 7 deadly sins to organize his purgatorio.
 Canterbury Tales: A good parson preached a sermon on them.
 The Pilgrim’s Progress (Paul Bunyan): sins are personified.
 Medieval thinkers numbered them 7.
 7 Penitential Psalms
 7 Petitions of the Lord’s prayer
 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 11:2-3)
 7 Corporal Works of Mercy
 7 Spiritual Works of Mercy
 7 Last Words of Jesus upon the Cross
 7 days of Creation
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St. John Cassian, (360-435 A.D.), wrote The Institutes (on monastic life). He borrowed from
Evagrius of Pontius (345-399 A.D.), a Greek monk, who contends: “The goal of monastic life
is to obtain ‘purity of heart’”. St. John Cassian had a powerful influence of monasticism and the
rule of St. Benedict.
St. Gregory the Great (540-604 A.D.), monk and pope, argued that the root of all sins is pride. He
saw these sins as capital (from the Latin, caput) meaning “head” or source of all other sins. St.
Thomas Aquinas (13th cent.) went on to repeat them.
Pope St. GREGORY the GREAT
Vain Glory (pride)
Envy
Sadness (sloth)
Avarice
Wrath
Lust
St. JOHN CASSIAN
Gluttony
Lust
Avarice
Wrath
Sadness
Sloth
Vain Glory/Pride
During Lent let us present ourselves to God as we truly are; without any window dressing or artful
concealment. This Jubilee Year of Mercy is a chance to stop hiding and show our wounds fully to Christ, our
Divine Physician and allow us to know His healing touch. Perhaps we have become “cozy” with our familiar
list of sins and we seek absolution only, rather than growth. The climax of this class will be the Sacrament of
Reconciliation, to allow God’s merciful gaze to heal the gaps in our journey. It takes courage to expose
ourselves in confession. A mature and effective confession is only possible in a real, deep and prayerful
examination of conscience—to see ourselves truly with warts and all, and know that we need to change and
(please God), desire to change.
Ask yourself:
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Where does God fit into the picture of your emotional health?
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Who or what controls you? Emotions are a gift. When we are not fully submitted to Christ we will feel
miserable, depressed, anxious, guilty, shameful, angry, fearful and insecure.
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Pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love or contentment, or even common sense.
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Pride says “I am greater than God; I have more knowledge than God.”
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The root of pride is enmity toward God.
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Pride is about positioning—to be richer, smarter, better looking.
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Pride is always counterfeit to our true selves.
5 Deadly consequences of pride:
1. We are in enmity with God—self-serving
2. Destruction is evident.
3. Its roots are handed down through generations. Hardened hearts and arrogance keep a family in bondage
for generations. This sinful legacy leads to murder, affairs, jealousy, greed, division and more.
4. Lack of contentment—unable to enjoy the simple things. Obsessed with posturing; looking good on the
outside—the image, which spawns self-righteousness.
5. Narcissism, self-gratification, self-enhancement, self-assertion, self-promotion
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8 Actions / Freedom Steps from Pride:
1. Don’t shift blame. Take responsibility. Even if you feel you’re not at fault, be open to
hearing what your accusers say; be willing to change.
2. Remove idols; whether wealth, your job, large house, appearance. Ask God to remove them
from being your focus.
3. Be teachable and pliable. Be flexible.
4. Get rid of “entitlement” mentality. The older I get, the more I realize that life is not about
me—it’s about everybody BUT me. That’s the Christian journey.
5. Be an obedient listener. Listen to others; you’ll be amazed at what you receive. Hear the
story of others and they will appreciate what you have.
6. Give life and a good model for the next generation. Stop the curse of Pride being handed
down.
7. Embrace love and kindness; toss out greed and malice. Always think of ways to give life
instead of robbing people of their joy.
8. Be content in all things. Whether plenty or nothing, Christ abounds and is with us always.
He is enough for us!
St. Gregory the Great listed the 4 species of proud persons:
1. Those who consider themselves to be the cause of their talents or achievements.
2. Those who acknowledge that their qualities are from God but they deserve them.
3. Those who boast of qualities they do not even possess.
4. Those who despise others who lack the qualities they possess.
Pride is:
 The craving for superiority; the inordinate desire to be who we are not.
 The root of narcissism and obtuseness.
 One who shows off, a know-it-all, a put-down artist, a super-sensitive soul
 One is walled-in by self-pleasing.

Pride is disordered or exaggerated self-centeredness. It is the root vice, is the craving for superiority, the
inordinate desire to be who we are not, and the actions and beliefs that fuel and reflect this craving.
 In a materialistic and competitive world, we are constantly comparing. The more we have, the more we are
entitled or privileged.
 Success can breed pride over others.
 Maybe some of these sayings sound familiar to you: “Prejudice and scapegoating are pride’s stepchildren.”
“The Pride of Wisconsin”… “Irish Pride” … “Proud to be an American”… “Gay pride”… “Pride goes before
the fall.”
GENESIS 3:5 tells of the roots of this malaise: The serpent, that slippery
symbol of deceit, speaks seductively to the ego of the human being: “God
knows well that, the moment you eat of the fruit, your eyes will be opened and
you will be like gods who know what is good and what is bad.”
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1. St. Aelred of Rievaulx says there are 5 stages that lead to an unhappy conclusion of pride:
2. Vanity: We delight in being praised by others. Human approval is a way of acting that is empty of
substance. That is why it is called vanity. All pride is falsehood. Be careful of trying to win acceptance and
praise.
3. Ambition: Self-exaltation in order to be “over” others. In our contemporary Western society, achievement/
orientated is a sign of success, rank and status, often indicated by material possessions.
4. Boasting: We publish unduly any good we have done; those who boast as loud-mouth braggarts; those
who magnify their achievements and minimize their failures. They believe in their own press releases and
are convinced they are superior in virtue to everyone around them. Politicians quickly discover those who
believe their own propaganda are setting themselves up for a serious fall.
5. Contempt: We believe everyone is inferior to us. One has an attitude of superiority; estranges themselves
form support and guidance of others. Thus, arises blasphemies, rebellion, contradiction, disobedience and a
thousand other pestilences.
6. Self-love: We put aside the judgement of others. One despises both the judgement of God and of human
beings and glories in being self-sufficient. This leads to a state of falsehood that leads to delusional
narcissism. Insulated from any self-knowledge and unable to enter into truthful relationships with others.
One’s whole life becomes a sham.
HUMILITY:
Luke 12: 16-20
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“Love the Lord your God… love your neighbor as yourself.” (Deuteronomy 6:5)
“Genuine Humility is a matter of affirming the truth about ourselves, about our
neighbor and about God.” (St. Bernard of Clairvaux)
Humility = self-knowledge. The opposite of pride is HUMILITY: one not selfsufficient, but depending on the encouragement and love of others one is down to
earth, rooted, of the soil. The offspring of humility is gratitude: the capacity to
thank someone and many.
Humility is from the Latin root word (humus), meaning “earthy.” A humble
person is an earthy person. A proud person sees nothing beyond his/her self.
In a world that feeds on a culture of self-exaltation and self-glorification, humility seems outmoded and out of
style. But pride, arrogance, and self-aggrandizement of any form are truly deadly for anyone pursuing a
spiritual life! To be humble does not mean to have self-hatred, demean ourselves, or to put ourselves under the
umbrella of despair. A cultivated Christian life demands a tri-angulation by which we love self, others in
relationship to our love of God.
The qualities of HUMILITY” - Bishop Robert F. Morneau
1. We dwell in the truth.
2. Freedom and joy
3. Humility is the key to faith and the perfection of joy.
4. Humility calls for grace estimation, not to overestimate
or underestimate people, places or things.
5. What value do we place on a career, a relationship,
property or bank account?
6. It is the act of acceptance; essential to spiritual and
social life.
Invocations for Humility
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Leader: We have been seduced by the arrogance of our self-sufficiency without recourse to your grace.
ALL: Look on us Lord and have mercy.
Leader: In our search for self-esteem, we have lost sight in our brokenness which cries out for your healing.
ALL: Look on us Lord and have mercy.
We have denied our responsibilities and shown indifference to suffering and plight…
ALL: Look on us Lord and have mercy.
We have worshipped the image of ourselves in our achievements without gratitude to you…
ALL: Look on us Lord and have mercy.
We have presumed on the rightness of our opinions and actions and failed to admit our faults…
ALL: Look on us Lord and have mercy.
CLOSING song
SHOW ME THE WAY
Every night I say a prayer in the hopes that there’s a heaven,
But every day I’m more confused as the saints turn into sinners.
All the heroes and legends I knew as a child have fallen to idols of clay,
And I feel this empty place inside, so afraid that I’ve lost my faith!
Show me the way! Show me the way!
Take me tonight to the river and wash my illusions away. Please, show me the way!
And I slowly drift to sleep for a moment dreams are sacred.
I close my eyes and know there’s peace in a world so filled with hatred.
then I wake up each morning and turn on the news to find we’ve so far to go…
And I keep on hoping for a sign; so afraid, I just don’t know… (to refrain)
Show me the way! Show me the way!
Bring me tonight to the mountain and take my confusion away. Show me the way!
And if I see a light, should I believe? Tell me how will I know?
Show me the way! Show me the way!
Take me tonight to the river and wash my illusions away. Show me the way! Show me the way!
Give me the strength and the courage to believe that I’ll get there some day.
And please show me the way.
Every night I say a prayer in the hopes that there’s a heaven…
References:
Borquez, Michelle. Overcoming the Seven Deadly Emotions. Eugene, Or.: Harvest House, 2008. Print.
Cameli, Louis J. The Devil You Don't Know: Recognizing and Resisting Evil in Everyday Life. Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria, 2011. Print.
Catching Fire, Becoming Flame. S.l.: Paraclete Pr, 2013. Print.
Catechism of the Catholic Church: Modifications from the Editio Typica. Vatican: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997. Print.
Cunningham, Lawrence. The Seven Deadly Sins: A Visitor's Guide. Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria, 2012. Print.
D'Avila-Latourrette, Victor-Antoine. The Gift of Simplicity: Heart, Mind, Body, Soul. Liguori, MO: Liguori Publications, 2009. Print.
Furey, Robert J. The Road to You: Callings and How We Fulfill Them. New York: Alba House, 1997. Print.
Haase, Albert. Coming Home to Your True Self: Leaving the Emptiness of False Attractions. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2008. Print.
Morneau, Robert F. Pathways to Relationship: Four Weeks on Simplicity, Gentleness, Humility, Friendship. Hyde Park, NY: New City, 2009.
Print.
Rolheiser, Ronald. Prayer: Our Deepest Longing. Print.
Styx, Show Me The Way, Dennis DeYoung, A& M Records, 1990