Greatness and littleness, grammatically speaking, are opposites; however, in our Christian understanding greatness and littleness are, paradoxically, not only complementary, but actually inseparable. As such they parallel Saint Paul’s insistence that, for the true disciple, weakness is a prerequisite for strength, and “foolishness” a precondition for the full flowering of Wisdom. Confirming the Apostle’s teaching, we have just heard Jesus praise his heavenly Father, saying: Although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.
The truth of this teaching seems more evident in those saints whose ordinary, simple, and hidden lives bore fruit in great wisdom and holiness. And so the beloved saint of the “Little Way,” Therese, is declared a Doctor of the Church, while the obscure life and death of a seemingly insignificant saint, Charles de Foucauld, continues to inspire and teach us with a heavenly wisdom. But what of the great saints? What of the great and influential monk we honor today? In someone like Saint Bernard it is all too easy to attribute his greatness and wisdom to his natural intelligence and those inborn gifts associated with his powerful and persuasive personality.
However, the Bernard who reveals himself in his treatises, homilies, and numerous letters, is found to be one whose greatness was firmly rooted in that true humility (and littleness) that confers true greatness. His treatise on The Steps of Humility and Pride, reveal a deep awareness of how the quest for littleness and humility lead to unsought glory and unanticipated greatness, whereas the foolish quest for greatness—especially worldly greatness—leads only to humiliation, degradation, and death of soul. True greatness is not actually a reward for littleness and childlikeness and, instead, these humble attitudes open wide our hearts to the inpouring of God’s transforming love by which we come to share, through Christ, in the greatness and glory of God.
Thus, if Bernard did seek greatness, it was only that greatness of love with which he could, however inadequately, reciprocate his experience of God’s infinite love for him. Therefore, may he intercede for us in pursuing this same great and noble quest so that with the humble and childlike Mary we can praise God in affirming that his mercy is from age to age to those who fear him. He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart. He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly.