In 2006, there was a very little-known beer company that came out with this ingenious series
for an ad and some of you might remember the ads. It was it was entitled: “The Most
Interesting Man in the World.” Remember that one? Remember the beer name? Dos Equis. It
was a very effective ad. They were a nobody beer. They were barely sold in a couple of states
and after this series, everybody knew the name of this beer.
To describe what you would see on the screen, it was always a very finely dressed,
distinguished man who kind of looked like James Bond. He was always surrounded by
beautiful women; he was in exotic places, either walking up off of a private jet or onto a private
yacht. He was cheered on by all the guys that were around him. Sometimes he’d be sword
fighting; other times he’d be winning championships, climbing mountains, saving people. He
was always laughing, smiling, esteemed by others, being celebrated cheered on by the crowd
and people looked at him with awe.
The agency began to talk about why the ad had become so successful and where they came
up with the idea. They were looking at men and studying what men liked the most. What they
discovered is that the world’s most interesting man, is a rich man, rich in stories and in
experience, much the way that the audience hopes to be. They are seeing something here and
displaying something that they believe people want to be. What would people want to be?
They discovered that a person, a man especially, more than anything else, really wanted to be
seen as interesting by his friends. The logic was that if you target these young men and allow
them to see a man, not as a threat, but as a reminder of an accomplishment they have not yet
achieved. Indeed, we needed someone to work toward, versus someone to see in our own
mirrors. So, they’re holding up this world’s most interesting man as the guy that everybody
wants to be like. Every line, every scene had a little bit of a line that showed just how absurd
this man was. I’m going to read to you my top ten favorite ones.
The Most Interesting Man in the World:
1. When he drives a car off the lot, its price increases in value.
2. Sharks have a week dedicated to him.
3. He once killed two stones with one bird.
4. Once a rattlesnake bit him, after 5 days of excruciating pain, the snake finally died.
5. Superman has his pajamas with his logo on it.
6. He is able to teach old dogs many new tricks.
7. He once got pulled over for speeding and gave the cop a ticket.
8. His personality is so magnetic, he is unable to carry credit cards.
9. He once had an awkward moment, just to see how it felt.
10. He is the world’s most interesting man; locals ask him for directions.
What is the direction that Jesus is calling us to in Mass today? At the end of every
advertisement (for Dos Equis), they would always show a close up of him and he would say,” I
don’t always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis.” Then he would say, remember the
tagline? “Stay thirsty my friends. Stay thirsty my friends.”
I’d like to shift that a little bit to “stay humble,” my friends. We hear in the readings today this
theme of humility that’s woven throughout and I think humility might be one of those qualities or
virtues that is a little bit hard for us to understand, what true humility means. What does it
mean for us to be humble? Humility is not so much about putting ourselves down, but it’s
realizing the gifts that God has given to us. Always realizing that those gifts come from God
and are not from us. How do we stay humble?
The First Reading in the book of Sirach says, “My child, conduct your affairs with humility, and
you will be loved more than a giver of good gifts.” You’ll be loved more than the world’s most
interesting man. “Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with
God.” God will take an interest in you.
In the Gospel of Luke, we hear Jesus inviting us, “to take the lowest place,” saying that,
“Everyone who humbles himself will be exalted.” I gave you the top ten favorite Dos Equis
slogans. I’d like to give you my top ten quotes from the Saints on humility, and how exactly do
we understand humility? Even more importantly, how do we live in humility?
1. St. John of the Cross: “The humble man, even if the whole world said otherwise, would not
believe he is better than anyone.”
2. St. Elizabeth of the Trinity: “Humility is to forget oneself entirely, to be occupied with Him alone.”
3. St. Edith Stein (St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross): “Humility is living in truth — truth about God
and truth about ourselves.” It is acknowledging the truth about God and ourselves.
4. St. Thomas Aquinas (Summa Theologica II-II, q.161 a.5): “Humility means seeing ourselves as
we truly are: nothing more, nothing less. Humility is not opposed to magnanimity, but it’s
opposed to pride, acknowledging our own defects while recognizing whatever good we have as
from God.”
5. St. Francis de Sales: “Humility does not make us think less of our gifts, but more of them
because they are referred to as gifts from God.” And we use them for His glory.
6. St. Mother Teresa: “If you are humble, nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace,
because you know who you are.”
7. St. Augustine: “If you ask me what is the first thing in religion, I will reply: The first, second, and
third is humility. For as pride is the beginning of all sin, so humility is the foundation of all virtue.
Humility is that by which we recognize that we are creatures, not the Creator; servants, not the
Lord; and by which we make subject ourselves to God, and not God to ourselves. …This is
humility: to know that we are weak, that every good we have is God’s gift, and to give God
thanks for it, while never exalting ourselves above our neighbors.”
8. St. Bernard of Clairvaux: [humility is] to acknowledge one’s own defects without despair, and
one’s gifts without pride, referring all to God.… He does not deny the gifts of God, but neither
does he exalt himself for them. Rather he gives thanks to the Giver, and in this way, he
possesses the gifts and remains safe from pride about them.”
9. St. Teresa of Ávila: “Humility is to walk the truth: that we are nothing by ourselves, and all we
are is given by God. To be humble is to understand this truth and to act accordingly: not to think
ourselves better than others, to accept what happens as from God, and to rejoice, no matter
what, that His will be done in us.”
10. St. Thérèse of Lisieux: “True humility consists in being content with our littleness, and in trusting
completely in God’s mercy. It is not to be troubled at our faults, for the child who falls and runs
into his father’s arms. To be humble is to recognize our nothingness and to expect everything
from God, as a little child expects all from its father.”
As we come together to celebrate this Eucharist and we have Jesus who humbles himself
coming to us through bread and wine into His very Body and Blood. He is the one that we are
to esteem. He is the one that we are to model our lives after. His Mother Mary was the most
humble creature on this earth. It was in her humility that she received the Savior.
And so, stay humble, my friends.
