AECI Lenten 2025 Reflection : 'Steer Us From Hardness Of Heart' (Week Four: The Influence Of Pride)

AECI Lenten 2025 Reflection : 'Steer Us From Hardness Of Heart'

Week 4, Day 1 - The Influence Of Pride

'The proud person is like a grain of wheat thrown into water:

it swells, it gets big. Expose that grain to the fire: it dries up, it burns.

The humble soul is like a grain of wheat thrown into the earth:

it descends, it hides itself, it disappears, it dies; but to revive in heaven.'

(Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified)

Mariam Baouardy (Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified) was born on 5th January 1846 at I'billin, a village in the Holy Land near to Nazareth. now in the Northern District of Israel. Her younger years were full of turbulence, of isolation and suffering.

Before she was aged three she very sadly lost both her parents to an infectious illness, within a few days of each other. In her teenage years her paternal uncle had lined up an arranged marriage for her and there was a violent attempt on her life.

Her remarkable recovery led her on to further travels, to temporary work and yet she still pursued her sense of 'vocation', interpreting the inner determination and resilience she carried as a sign of divine love.

There was an initial rejection after two years as a postulant by a congregation of the Carmelite Order, before she joined the Sisters of Apostolic Carmel in Pau, Southern France, and formally received the Carmelite habit in 1867. She died in the year 1878.

It was certainly a life witnessing both human cruelty and human superiority. Much of her brief existence was about 'steering' a path through the pride and wickedness of the world she encountered.

Over the course of this next week we shall explore three areas where we might become more attentive to the direction of our heart in relation to our circumstances, personal, social, cultural and political: They are 'Humility', 'Harmony' and 'Hope'.

Today we shall consider what Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified might mean by 'the fire' in the quote above.

Week 4, Day 2 - The Influence Of Pride

Perhaps it was the sheer hardships of lived experience that Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified had in mind when she adopted the phrase '...expose that grain to the fire'.

Perhaps she is alluding to a 'greater spiritual presence' in our midst, an omniscient God who knows each and every frailty and weakness within our character; the human character that relies too often on a sense of 'pride' or 'pretence' to counter any setback or frustration.

With this she contrasts 'the humble soul' which 'hides itself ... to revive in heaven'. Here it is worthwhile to pause a little further on why and where our soul might indeed 'hide'.

St Paul, as we have seen earlier in our Lenten reflection, emphasises the importance of faith in discarding the 'old life' we chose , one caught up in all aspects of worldly affairs, and in recognizing our new life 'hidden with Christ in God' (Colossians 3:3).

As we think of the trials and tribulations in the short lifetime of Mariam Baouardy (Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified), we might think of episodes where she wanted to 'hide' or take refuge from such suffering and sadness.

We might 'hide' from responsibility, from loss, out of fear or out of apathy. This is all part of the lived, real experience of men and women. It is a tough truth, but sometimes we just don't show up ... and we need nothing other than a period of solitude and a single glimpse of human courage and goodness to tell us so!

The 'revival' of our souls - of our heart and bodies informed by faith - might just be the key word here. We are in 'motion' when we know the 'hardness' and 'obduracy' of our nature and yet 'aim' for renewal or revival by reaching for a greater mercy in an authentic way. It is a search at times for the strength and the sustenance to make 'humble' choices.

Thomas Merton, the Trappist monk, once observed 'Pride makes us artificial, humility makes us real.'

Week 4, Day 3 - The Influence Of Pride

HUMILITY

So, what precisely do we mean when we read of a 'humble heart' or a 'humble soul'? Is 'humility' merely the opposite to conceit or a pride that 'swells'?

There are a number of examples in the Gospels of Jesus asking us to observe closer the behaviour of young children. Children who have perhaps not reached the age where they can fully grasp the levels of secular time and geographical space. It is an age where a full understanding of 'tomorrow', with its structured position on the calendar and its human framework of realm and function (designated morning, afternoon, evening, night 'activity') is limited.

In the beginning of chapter 18 in the Gospel of Matthew, his words are as follows:

'Truly I tell you, unless you change

And become like little children

You will never enter the kingdom of heaven'

When we observe a young child in a natural environment we might glimpse a combination of fascination and contentment with the wonder of Creation. To use the phrase of Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified we might witness a young person 'descend' within themselves as they come to terms with the vast and intricate elements before us. There is then the 'inner joy' of knowing it is a part of their very life.

This kind of humility allows for the 'whole spiritual edifice to grow' as St Bernard once wrote.

Week 4, Day 4 - The Influence Of Pride

We are confining ourselves this week to a reflection on the damage that can arise when one adopts an attitude of superiority and high self regard, when our personal, professional, social, religious or political 'status' or 'standing' is the sole driving force in our perception of morality and behaviour.

The Coventry Litany of Reconciliation, a prayer recited worldwide for the cause of peace and healing, reminds us to check on 'the pride that leads us to trust in ourselves and not in God'. It is an attitude of superiority and pretension that is tackled head on in segments of the Bible, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Holding to firm views, striving for a model of human decency in keeping with tradition and cultural norms, are in themselves no dangerous or bad things, but when there is a 'closing off' of oneself to a broader integrity, to the prospect of revival, of hope and divine possibility, then the 'the heart' can become fixated with the views one holds from that given or granted position of influence.

The book of Samuel warns:

“Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature,

because I have rejected him.

Not as man sees does God see,

because man sees the appearance

but the LORD looks into the heart.”

(1 Samuel 16:7)

Let us conclude today's reflection with a 'Responsorial Psalm', an opportunity to read and respond individually to the poetry and imagery of the Psalms, in this case the widely known Psalm 23.

Again try to recite it with the given response in bold (R) in your own sacred space as we approach the end of the month of March. Perhaps you can dwell a little on those words and images that present a picture for you of human harmony.

R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

In verdant pastures he gives me repose;

beside restful waters he leads me;

he refreshes my soul.

R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

He guides me in right paths

for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk in the dark valley

I fear no evil; for you are at my side

With your rod and your staff

that give me courage.

R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

You spread the table before me

in the sight of my foes;

you anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

Only goodness and kindness follow me

all the days of my life;

and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD

for years to come.

R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

Week 4, Day 5 - The Influence Of Pride

HARMONY

'Restful waters' and 'verdant pastures' give us some sense of the beauty, the order and the harmony that exists within our natural world. If we are locked in to self importance, and to an over concern with professional or social stature, we deceive ourselves as to what is achievable within that framework of Creation. We might fail to see the 'table spread before us'.

An inner sense of harmony makes certain demands upon the heart, along with our other human faculties. We have already learnt that in the instances of King Solomon and St Paul. We are encouraged to actively look for serenity, harmony and balance around us, to start with that principle at the beginning of each day. And where we might struggle with this obligation, to then look again with the fresh eyes of faith.

We can gradually fall into 'hardness of heart' with 'the fire' of pride (... as Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified highlights) 'halting our hearts' in the search for the sacred, for the unity of existence and for the wonder. Pride contributes to our strife.

St Francis of Assisi (c. 1181 - 1226), a man who revelled in the divine images that he found within the natural world, writes in his most beautiful prayer:

'Lord, make me an instrument of your peace

... where there is discord let me sow harmony'

For our Monday meditation, simply read the line below from the book of Isaiah

and watch the short two minute video at the link below, immersing yourself in the gentle sound of the waves on the shore.

'There shall always be rejoicing and happiness in what I create'

(Isaiah 65: 18)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0W5GBobAZE

Week 4, Day 6 - The Influence Of Pride

In our deeply troubled world today, ravaged with conflict and war, poverty and famine, rapid climate change and pollution, we can not allow any 'pride' to take the most precious gift of human hope away from us.

Today we shall merely dwell on the words of Pope Francis and consider how 'the heart' may become the cradle of hope, the place where we are 'revived in heaven' to use those poetic words of Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified.

'Hope is an supremely active virtue that helps make things happen'

(Pope Francis)

Week 4, Day 7 - The Influence Of Pride

HOPE

In gentle humility, with an awareness of the harmony that suffuses through the natural world and a good measure of hope we can come to deepen our sense of responsibility and be mindful of the paths that lead to any 'hardness of heart' , indifference or ignorance.

Pope Francis is reminding us that 'things happen' when we adopt an attitude of hope over despair, and see the potential of human beings to transform situations and circumstances. Pride, in the sense of superiority or a tendency to satisfy our own 'ego', can too easily close off these avenues of hope and renewal. Hope can have a holistic power when it is harnessed.

To conclude this week , we offer the prayer below (written by a member of the CAFOD Team). As we recite it we keep in mind all those who struggle to find hope in our challenging and divided world.

God of our longing,

hear our prayers

protect our dreams,

and listen to our silent hopes.

Deal gently with our pain,

speak to our sadness,

and remove the barriers 

that imprison our spirit.

Shed your light

where shadows are cast,

that we may feel your warmth

and know your presence.

Give us courage 

to hold fast to our sense of vision

that we may build our world

and create our future.

Amen.