Editing, humility and St. John the Baptist’s birthday
Wednesday, June 3, 2026
Emily Chaffins
Most of us – if not all – have worked with an editor: a teacher at school, a coworker, or a friend or family member giving suggestions on a project. Sometimes we’re happy for the advice, and sometimes not… especially if that teacher is making you redo your paper!
As a writer, I’ve had an inside view of the editorial process for years, whether that’s having my work professionally revised or doing so for others. Editors have made me a better writer, and yet I realized something: they often go unrecognized.
June 24 is the Nativity of St. John the Baptist – the birthday party for the outspoken prophet, Jesus’ cousin, who baptized Jesus (see the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 3). While reflecting on editors, it hit me that they share an important attribute with John the Baptist: humility.
Without further ado, here are three lessons about humility I’ve learned from the editors in my life.
Lesson #1: Having humility is realizing you don’t always need to chase recognition
Mother Teresa described humility like this: “If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are. If you are blamed you will not be discouraged. If they call you a saint you will not put yourself on a pedestal.”
In other words, being humble is about finding security in your God-given identity as a beloved child of God.
You know you have value, so you don’t let anyone demean you.
You also know you’re NOT God. You recognize that He is the one who gives you the ability to do good. With this in mind, you’re proud of your successes without getting arrogant.
John the Baptist always wanted to make sure that people focused on God instead of him. Instead of being jealous, he was happy when Jesus gained more attention than he did, saying, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).
When editing an article, an editor’s goal is not about telling the whole world how much effort they put into it. Editors don’t tell readers: “Hey, look how much I improved this writer’s work! I changed this, and this, and this!” On the contrary, editors don’t want readers to know about the hours they spent rearranging paragraphs, adding more background details, and fixing pesky grammar errors.
Ultimately, any success a writer has reflects well on the people who revised and published the work, and editors rightfully feel secure in that.
Editors are like the “salt of the earth” Jesus talks about in Matthew 5:13. Salt has its own flavor, but its greatest role in food is to heighten other flavors. Soup would taste bland if it weren’t for the salt sprinkled into the broth. If salt were missing, you would know right away because you would be gagging!
Similarly, editors elevate the writing style and skills that writers have “served up” to them. And even though editors sometimes go unnoticed, a publication wouldn’t be the same without them – readers would notice the blandness.
Lesson #2: Humility is about recognizing your worth – and others’
The worst experience I’ve ever had in a writers workshop was the one where I cried in front of the whole group.
Yep. That was embarrassing.
As a fiction writer, workshops are usually helpful: writers provide feedback on each other’s stories. They’re not editing your work, but they’re giving you a perspective on what is succeeding and what is not succeeding about that story.
In that particular workshop, the story I shared fell flat. Worse, the verbal comments I was receiving from some members of the group tore me down. I ended up bursting into tears at the end because I felt stupid and discouraged.
Contrast that experience with the care many editors have shown me throughout my career. When I was first learning how to practice journalism, former Florida Catholic editor Ana Rodríguez-Soto had to put in a lot of work on my articles. She took the time not only to edit my writing, but also to provide detailed comments so that I could understand what I needed to do differently moving forward.
Your skill in writing has nothing to do with your worth as a person. However, when someone takes the time to guide you through the process of making your writing better, it reaffirms that you are worthy of respect and of others’ time.
And it all starts with humility: an expert editor who is willing to make the effort to help a young writer.
Speaking from experience, the editors I’ve worked with have elevated my writing to heights I never knew I could reach. I remember one article in particular, a complex political story for a national outlet that involved research and many interviews. After spending hours and hours on it, I finally sent in my first draft, expecting my work to be all but done.
On the contrary, I received major revision suggestions from the editorial team, asking me to add much more detail to an already hefty article.
Once I finished the additions, I was thrilled at what a difference their advice had made. They pushed me to go beyond what I had thought I was capable of. They had shown me I could do better.
St. John the Baptist spent his whole life bringing others to Jesus – showing others that there was more beauty and hope in their lives than they had ever dreamed of. John the Baptist’s mission was to “prepare the way of the Lord.” If he hadn’t brought people to Jesus, many of Jesus’ disciples might never have met Him.
Can you think of someone in your life who has brought you closer to God? Let’s try to be that person for others.
Lesson #3: Humility is giving God the “green light” to develop us
There are few things more exciting than waiting for an editor to finish polishing your work, as you look forward to the final product going live. A writer is confident that whatever their editor is doing for the story is going to make it better.
God is working in our lives, developing our story. It takes humility to accept that He is guiding us better than we could guide ourselves. Do we truly strive to live as if He is the most important person in our lives?
John the Baptist put God first. As the Diocese of Baton Rouge in Louisiana reflects, the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, June 24, falls “three days after what is traditionally considered the longest day of the year, [meaning] the sun will gradually begin its annual descent and the days become shorter.”
The Church honors Jesus’ Nativity (Christmas Day) “three days after the winter solstice… when days start to become longer and when we celebrate the birth of Jesus.” In other words, “The timing of these days is significant because St. John is considered the lamp, but Christ is the true Light of the World, thus fulfilling St. John’s prophecy, ‘He must increase, I must decrease.’”
St. John the Baptist knew that Jesus was the most important. Let’s strive to keep that fact at the forefront of everything we do.
I’m so grateful for the Catholic media editors who model this kind of humility day in and day out.
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