Selfish Ambition Versus Magnanimity
September 18, 2024
Fr. John Riccardo
Beloved: Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace.
Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from? Is it not from your passions that make war within your members? You covet but do not possess. You kill and envy but you cannot obtain; you fight and wage war. You do not possess because you do not ask. You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions
(James 3:16-4:3)
The Letter of James continues to deliver spiritual “upper cuts.” There are so many things worth diving deeper into in these verses, but the words that jumped out for me personally came right at the start: “selfish ambition.” The Greek word means something like base self-seeking, a kind of “Look at me!” way of living. Goodness knows we have a plethora of examples of this attitude, whether in athletes, politicians, or media celebrities, perhaps especially with that oddest of modern phenomena: people who are famous for…being famous.
That said, is there such a thing as ambition that is not selfish, not base, not all about me. Is there even such a thing as holy ambition? We in ACTS XXIX think that there is, and that it’s an essential virtue to aspire to have if we’re going to be serious about doing apostolic work.
Such “holy ambition” is called magnanimity. This word literally means “greatness of soul.” St. Thomas Aquinas taught that magnanimity “makes a man deem himself worthy of great things in consideration of the gifts he holds from God.” It’s not selfish ambition simply because the magnanimous person could care less if anyone ever knows who he or she is. For the magnanimous person, it’s all about God and not about self.
We frequently hold up St. Joan of Arc as an example of magnanimity. Her famous words – “I am not afraid. God is with me. I was born for this!” – are not proud, arrogant or boastful words; they’re words that flow from a greatness of soul. Joan knew that God had distributed to her many and particular gifts, and like the good and faithful servants in Jesus’ parable, she wanted to make a good return on those gifts (cf. Matthew 25:14-30). It’s telling that this quote is often abridged by those who want to co-opt Joan for their own causes, and thus they omit the crucial middle sentence. In doing so, they turn a magnanimous quote into one that exudes instead the very selfish ambition James so harshly warns against. Joan didn’t act, however, out of vanity or for her own renown but for God, His glory and the good of her countrymen.
Speaking of God’s greater glory, we can find another example of magnanimity, or holy ambition, in a 16th century Spaniard named Inigo. At one time, Inigo would have been the poster boy for selfish ambition. His entire life had been about being recognized by others, especially women. He led a life of vanity that would have been very much at home with many of our modern athletes pounding their chests after making a play. Everything changed for Inigo, however, when he was severely injured in a battle and confined to his bed for nine months. No longer able to do anything in the public eye, all he could do was read. Though he had asked for books to continue to fuel his pride, the only things family gave him were a life of Jesus and various tales of the saints. And with that, a radical transformation occurred in this man’s heart that was to forever change the world. As Inigo read about men like St. Dominic and St. Francis, he thought to himself, “These men were of the same frame as I. Why, then, should I not do what they have done?” And that is exactly what he went on to do. Imitating Dominic and Francis, who had sold out entirely for Jesus, Inigo became Ignatius and the founder of the Society of Jesus, aka, the Jesuits, no longer living for himself but “for the greater glory of God.”
Pope Benedict XVI once commented, “We were not created for comfort, but for greatness.” Joan knew this. Ignatius knew this. All the saints down through the ages knew this. This virtue is neither in contradiction to humility, nor does it require doing Herculean things like those two saints. Mother Teresa beautifully exhorted us to do small things with great love. Such things the magnanimous person, the person with holy ambition, does.
Holy Spirit, fall afresh on us in our day — even now! Rouse us and do in us what you did in Joan and Ignatius! Through the prayers of the saints, broken and fragile as we are, inspire us to do everything for the greater glory of God!
ACTS XXIX Prayer Intentions
September 2024
For our Board meeting, that it will be a time of both hope and encouragement for our Board as we gather in faith and fellowship to share the fruitfulness of the mission God has entrusted to us.
For our time in the Diocese of Gary, IN at the Disciple Shift Conference at St. John the Evangelist, that many will hear and be surrendered anew to the gospel and be mobilized for mission.
For our time in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, that God will bless our time there with His Spirit as we seek to build on the great work already happening in the local Church there.
Prayers of thanksgiving for God’s provision in enabling us to begin translating The Rescue Project in German, Portuguese and Mandarin in order that the gospel would reach even more nations.
For our Board of Directors, our Episcopal Advisory Council, our benefactors and prayer partners.
For God’s protection upon the ACTX XXIX family
and their respective families.