Letters from Seminary: Riley

Being a fool for Christ, you have to remember humility

Published: July 28, 2018

By Ben Riley
Diocesan Seminarian

“Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:5-8)

The necessity for humility becomes apparent very quickly when studying a foreign language. I am currently studying Spanish for the second summer in a row in the beautiful town of Cuernavaca, Mexico.

Like last summer, I love having the opportunity to study a language while being immersed in the culture. This country is beautiful.

The other four Arkansas seminarians and I have the opportunity to go on excursions on the weekends to the pyramids of the sun and the moon, to Taxco, a silver mining town, to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City and many other historical and cultural locations.

Put plainly, I absolutely love it. We study hard during the week with seven hours daily of one-on-one instruction in a Spanish language school, but we also have a lot of fun in the interim. Of course, there are also many struggles that accompany learning a new language.

Personally, I find it very frustrating when I want to explain something important, like the faith. All of our teachers are faithful Catholics and naturally like having seminarians as students, so they ask us lots of questions about the faith.

It is difficult to transition from being very articulate in my native language to speaking like a child or worse in Spanish. And I don’t want to misrepresent whatever theological topic is being discussed, just because I cannot find the right words to use and do not know the proper translation. I have to rely on God’s grace and mercy and remind myself to be humble.

I have to be comfortable making a complete fool of myself, speaking with the vocabulary of a child and learning from my mistakes. I know that trying to remain humble, while not always easy, will keep me from being discouraged by my slow progress in learning Spanish.

I can also offer up my humiliation to the Lord and remember his humility on the cross when I make mistakes like asking, “Would you like help please?” when I meant to ask, “Will you help me please?” or trying to translate common English phrases and analogies into Spanish that make no sense once translated.

Believe me, if you travel to Mexico and tell someone it is “raining cats and dogs” they will look at you like you are crazy. Humility can be an elusive endeavor, but just like any virtue, it is strengthened by practice.

God could have been incarnate as a king, or could have been born into a wealthy and powerful family. Instead Jesus humbled himself, being born in human likeness, asking to serve rather than be served, and accepting death on a cross. We are called to do the same; to take up our cross daily and follow him.

Ben Riley, a member of Christ the King Church in Little Rock, is a diocesan seminarian, attending St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana. This article was originally published in Arkansas Catholic. Copyright Diocese of Little Rock. All rights reserved. This article may be copied or redistributed with acknowledgement and permission of the publisher.