Memorial of Saint Peter Claver, Priest
“You are inflated with pride.” - 1 Corinthians 1:2
Today Paul comes down hard on the community of believers at Corinth because of their exaggerated pride, rightly labeled “hubris.” He assails the Corinthians for being "puffed up" or "arrogant."
Hubris assaults the harmony of the Corinthian congregation, bringing division and resisting Paul's attempts for unity. Being "puffed up" is precisely the kind of attitude that creates sects and divisions. The end result is always “us” vs. “them.” And ultimately chaos, if not disaster. Fortunately there is an antidote to hubris — humility. A good example is the story of David vs. Goliath. Perhaps humility was the deadly “stone” that David flung at haughty Goliath.
Thinking back through my 70+ years, the sin of hubris has been the root of every national crisis. The catastrophes of Vietnam, Watergate, and the Iraq war were rooted in hubris. LBJ said that he would not be the first president to preside over an American defeat, despite advisors and experts (and the French) telling him that conventional war in SE Asia was unwinnable. The Watergate burglars thought themselves invulnerable to consequences. “W'' tried to impose Jeffersonian democracy on Iraq, without questioning its suitability. And on and on…hubris. Yes, “pride goeth before a fall.”
Humility is what Jesus of Nazareth expects of his disciples, accepting our limitations so that we may be converted more and more as his disciples. As Paul tells the Corinthians, hubris is the most dangerous delusion. Pride, or worse yet hubris, is the root of all sin — the sin of Lucifer and his fallen angels, the sin of Adam and Eve who tried “to be like God,” the sin of Goliath against the boy David. Humility is the stone that hits hubris right between the eyes.
Think of the smooth stones of David. To defeat the “Goliath” within each of us, we need to live by those five smooth stones of integrity, justice, faith, humility and hope.
Jesus of Nazareth lived a life of humility. As his disciples, dare we do otherwise
—Timothy J. Cronin