How would you define humility? I searched the definition online and found the following in Oxford Languages: "a modest or low view of one's own importance." The definition makes sense when you consider that the Latin "humilis" has the sense of "low." Perhaps it is this association that leads many to imagine that they express humility by making themselves low. Have you ever received a compliment from another and then dismissed your own accomplishment in an instinctive bid for humility? "It was nothing," you might say, even when you may have put great effort into that something.

Lent is a time for humility, but I would like to suggest a more biblical take on the definition. I propose thinking of humility as truth-telling. Like the dictionary definition, this is partly an awareness of our lowliness. Truth be told, we are mere mortal creatures and sinners all. We cannot save ourselves and we depend upon the boundless mercy of God.

There is another truth that must be told, and it concerns that boundless mercy. Limited though we may be, we are the beloved children of the God Who is Love Itself. This God forgives and redeems us. His Beloved Son calls us "friends" and offers Himself with the greatest of loves so that we might have new possibility and hope of eternal life.

It can be easy to downplay our accomplishments in social settings. This kind of lowliness is not biblical humility. It might be best to simply thank the other person for the compliment and tell the truth that you worked hard on that accomplishment and that you appreciate the encouragement.

It is much more difficult to tell the deeper truth of our hidden faults, our selfish inclinations, our wounds, and our cruelty. This is the stuff of a good confession, a truth-telling if there ever was one. We are speaking our hearts to the One Who already knows our hearts even in their most shadowy corners. A s much to ourselves as to Him, we tell the truth of our failings and His redeeming grace.

Difficult though it may be, we go to the sacrament in the confidence that the one Who knows us loves us and loves us to the end. Telling the truth of that great love makes telling our humility easier and more meaningful. As the Holy Scriptures teach: "a humble, contrite heart O Lord, You will not spurn!"

Next weekend, in parishes across this archdiocese, there will be opportunities to adore this same Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. We will also have opportunity for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Maybe you go to confession regularly. If you do, I hope that this healing sacrament gives you strength and keeps you grounded. Maybe it has been awhile. If that is the case, do not be afraid! The Lord longs to renew you by His love. There is no shame before a confessor when he, too, is a sinner in need of grace. And you cannot commit the sin that God cannot forgive. This kind of humility may be a difficult truth to speak, but "the truth shall set you free!"

Information about "24 Hours for the Lord" may be found here: bostoncatholic.org/24-hours-for-the-lord with links to confession times.

Information about Jubilee Pilgrimage sites and their confession times may be found here: bostoncatholic.org/jubilee-2025.



- Archbishop Richard G. Henning is the Archbishop of Boston