Nobility is defined as “having or showing qualities of high moral character, such as courage, generosity, or honor.”
The root of nobility is service. The Christian must ask himself frequently, “Who do I serve?”
The answer to this question will reveal the strength of his character and define the level of his nobility.
At the end of his life (at 110 years old), the successor of Moses, Joshua of Nun, exhorted the Israelites to “revere the Lord, and serve Him in sincerity and in faithfulness” the rest of their days (Josh 24:14).
He knew that they had the capacity to choose selfishness or selflessness.
He knew they were capable of nobility.
In fact, God expects this sort of unselfish behavior from all of us.
Backhanded compliment
By expecting more from us, God is giving us a backhanded compliment: He exhorts us to be loyal, and faithful and truthful because that is who we were created to be.
G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) brilliantly put it,
“But it is obvious, anyhow, that when we call a man a coward, we are in so doing asking him how he can be a coward when he could be a hero. When we rebuke a man for being a sinner, we imply that he has the powers of a saint”
#GKChesterton (“The Mercy of Mr. Arnold Bennett,” The New Witness, June 23, 1922).
We were not made to be cowards.
In fact, every person in every society (Christian or not) recognizes and abhors a coward.
Timid people don’t garner respect because, deep-down, we know all human beings were made to reflect the nobility of their Creator.
And that happens through acts of heroism.
Perhaps that is why Sacred Scripture tells us not to be afraid 365 times!
More than the money
So, why do we act like this? Why do we go through life scared, soft and cowardly?
Besides our partially-corrupted human nature from the Fall of our First Parents (see Gen 3), we don’t see ourselves as much. Our vision is too limited, because it’s not God’s vision.
God is constantly trying to show us (through Jesus, the Scriptures and the saints) that we are more than the money we make, our careers, our genders, our recreational activities, the sins we commit, the things we get done throughout our day, or the people with whom we associate.
He is trying to show us that we are His children, each endowed with a unique “spiritual and immortal” soul (CCC 1703),
and that we belong to Him (Rom 14:8).
Eternal glory
When we finally embrace this truth, we realize that we are destined for eternal glory, and the things of this world just aren’t worthy to give ourselves over to them.
As St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) said, we can finally rest in God and be at peace, now matter how short our lives are here on earth.
Poverty
We begin to see the poverty of the world, and that its goods are not good enough to fully satisfy us.
As St. Teresa of Calcutta once said of the West, we discover the poverty of the soul is much greater than the poverty of the body, because bodily ailments are temporary, whereas sicknesses of the soul carry into eternity.
When we fall flat on our faces, we can have the confidence to run back to our Creator and ask for forgiveness, because He loves each one of us as His child.
Valleys and mountains
Venerable Fulton J. Sheen (1895-1979) once said it is only by looking up from the valley that we can see the vastness of the great mountains.
To know our own poverty means to know God’s greatness.
And knowing the greatness of God makes us want to attain a life greater than this one–a nobler venture than any kingship of this world.
How do we do this?
We must have the courage to admit when we’re wrong, and take up our crosses daily, and follow Jesus.
Going to confession, reading Sacred Scripture in the daily Mass readings and visiting Jesus in the tabernacle (or exposed in adoration) once a week for a few minutes is a good place to start.