Fr. Joseph Murphy died of a heart attack while playing cricket. Those who lived with him remember him not for the unexpected way in which he died but for the inspiring way in which he lived. Fr. Murphy loved games. And as he played hard to win he would often hurt others on the field, all young seminarians, through his angry words. But at the end of the day, he would be seen walking up to one or other of the seminarians whom he had hurt to say sorry. He was the principal of the college. But he was noble enough to ask forgiveness from those much younger to him whom he had hurt. Fr. Murphy was humble. He was a leader.
We have been accustomed to speaking about the importance of humility for our spiritual life. St Augustine was guiding a young man named Dioscorus. When Dioscorus asked him how he could draw closer to God, what was the way to God, St Augustine replied, “This way is first humility, second humility, third humility and no matter how often you keep asking me I will say the same over and over again” (Augustine, Letter 118). What St Augustine was driving home was that humility is very important for our spiritual journey. Certainly, our spiritual journey deals not only with our relationship with God, but also with our relationship with others. However, humility was not spoken of much outside the sphere of spirituality, for instance in the sphere of work, politics, business, leadership.
Jose Kuttianimattathil, sdb
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