Laying down our lives in Humility

Sermon for the Memorial of St Charles Borromeo, 4th November 2022, given at St Thomas' Church, Jersey. Readings: Romans 12:3-13 and John 10:11-16.

St Charles Borromeo giving food and alms to the victims of famine

At the end of my second year in Seminary, instead of doing a placement in England, I was sent to a Parish in the Archdiocese of Milan in the hope that a month spent in a place where very few people spoke English would have an improving effect on my Italian! I won't ask you to judge how well this plan worked, but I do want to share with you some things I learned while I was there.

Even in Italy, Milan is a unique place; the Archdiocese is the largest diocese in the world and it is home to some five million Catholics, around the same number as the whole of England and Wales. Their Seminary at Venegono is home to some 180 men training for the priesthood, and when I went to the Cathedral for an ordination Mass, 28 men were ordained! To give you an idea of scale; our own Diocese of Portsmouth has maybe 200,000 Catholics and we have 10 Seminarians; this year two of us will be ordained as priests.

Milan has a long history, their version of the Mass dates back to Saint Ambrose in the 4th Century, they boast a great number of Saints and Blesseds, and in the 20th Century two of their Archbishops were elected as Pope; Pius XI and Paul VI.

Today is the feast of another Saintly Bishop of Milan who had a wide-ranging impact on the whole Church, St Charles Borromeo. The century in which St Charles lived saw Europe torn apart by the Reformation; Saint Charles Borromeo was one of the architects of the Catholic Counter-Reformation, one of the men who kept the Church from falling apart during those troubled years. He worked on the Roman Catechism, the document which stated in plain language the beliefs and teachings of the Church, he helped write the Tridentine Roman Missal, which would govern the way Catholics across the whole world celebrated Mass for 400 years, he founded the first Sunday Schools to educate Catholic youth, and he founded some of the first Seminaries to train well-educated and articulate priests to lead the people.

Perhaps, though, his most important contribution to the Church is his Saintly example of humility; Saint Charles was born to a wealthy family of Roman Aristocrats, and he became a Cardinal when his uncle was elected as Pope. When his brother died and he became head of the Borromeo Family, they wanted him to leave his position in the Church and take up this role instead; he saw his brother’s death as a proof of the vanity of the world and instead of accepting his family’s wealth and power he renounced it, and was ordained as a priest.

In a time when Bishops controlled enormous amounts of money, and often lined their own pockets with it, Saint Charles instead chose to feed the poor; during a famine in Milan he is reported to have fed 3000 people for three months out of his own pockets. He had his priests do likewise. When plague struck the province, he wrote his will, and went to the hospital to be with and minister to the patients who were worst affected. Again, he nagged and cajoled his priests into doing the same.

In the Gospel today, Jesus calls himself the Good Shepherd, and says

The Good Shepherd is one who lays down his life for his sheep

John 10:11

He is, of course speaking about the Cross, where he would lay down his life for the sake of us, his sheep.

The challenge of the Gospel is always to ask ourselves, how can I imitate Jesus? He challenges us to take up our own crosses and follow him, to join him in laying down our lives for the sake of the sheep who are not yet of this flock, the sheep Christ has yet to gather to himself. For some, this means winning the Crown of Martyrdom and dying for the faith, but for most of us it means a different kind of Martyrdom, a different way of laying down our lives.

For most of us, this laying down of our lives, consists in being loving neighbours to one another, in Charity which is lived out through three virtues; (1) patience with one another, (2) humility, and (3) obedience to God and to those placed over us.

Saint Charles is a special example to us of humility; despite being born wealthy and powerful, grandson of the house of Medici, inheritor of a castle and vast lands, nephew to a Pope, and despite having access to the vast wealth and resources of the diocese of Milan, despite having every opportunity to exalt himself and increase his wealth, and power, and prestige, he instead chose to lay down his life for the service of the Church. He chose to be a servant in the priesthood instead of a prince with earthly power, he chose service instead of self-indulgence in feeding the hungry and tending to the sick, he chose to challenge those in authority rather than curry favour with them.

How can we learn to imitate his humility?

• The first and easiest way is self-denial. Catching ourselves when we are about to indulge or treat ourselves and denying ourselves instead. Perhaps we might make a habit that, on the days of penance (Wednesday and Friday), instead of buying ourselves that expensive coffee or little bar of chocolate, or whatever it is we do, we might put the money we would have spent in the Church’s poor box, or into a little Red Missio box?

• The second way, a little harder than the first, is by regularly examining our consciences and going to confession regularly (i.e. at least once a month); by being honest with ourselves about our faults and failings and humbling ourselves before God by asking for His forgiveness.

• The third way, for the advanced among you, is by adding the Litany of Humility to your regular prayers; asking Jesus to help us in realising and embracing that it's not all about us; asking Him for the gift of Humility.

By adopting these little habits, we build up a greater habit, the habit of putting others before ourselves; the virtue of humility leads us to imitate Jesus and transforms us into powerful witnesses of our Christian Faith.

Saint Charles Borromeo preached to his priests these words;

Be sure that you first preach by the way you live. If you do not, people will notice that you say one thing but live otherwise, and your words will bring only cynical laughter and a derisive shake of the head.

He spoke a truth which would be summarised by an American Evangelical;

Out of one hundred people, one will read the Bible, the other ninety-nine will read the Christians.

D.L. Moody

Today we ask for the prayers of St Charles Borromeo, that we might imitate his humility and be true messengers of the Gospel to those we meet. Saint Charles Borromeo, Pray for us.