by Sr. Sheila Campbell, MMM                   Ireland                        17.01.2026  

Recently my brother sent me a short announcement about a forthcoming lecture in the local University about Humility. Oddly enough the lecture was to be given in the Medical School, which I found rather ironic as some of the consultants I have known in the past would not have been renowned for that virtue.

Is it a virtue? That is what I was left thinking about. The word is not used much nowadays because it often implies a creeping obsequiousness, or a low self esteem. In the blurb about the forthcoming lecture, it used words like ‘humblebragging’ and ‘arrogant humility’. I suppose that is when people say, “in all humility, I do ….” And then they go on to boast about their achievements or academic success.

However, I think the word humility, for me, is linked to the Latin word for earth, or ground, “Humus”. The key to humility is exactly this ability to be rooted, firmly planted. When one is in touch with the reality of life, including our gifts and talents, a false humility would be to deny them or play them down. A true humility takes them for what they are, gifts, gifts to be used for the benefit of the common good.

Am I a humble person? No, I don’t think so. I still have too much to shed before I can return to my basic sense of the person I am before God.

But I have decided that yes, it is a virtue that I would like to attain one day. So, thank you, John, for giving me food for thought today!