Today's Message: 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time C

Sirach 3: 17-18, 20- 28-19; Hebrews 12: 18-19, 22-24; Luke 14: 1, 7-14

Do I try to be what I am or am I more often than not, out to prove something that I’m not? The age old adage:  Know Thyself  is so important…why do I not reflect on this as often as I should?  Socrates said that ‘people make themselves appear ridiculous when they are trying to know obscure things before they know themselves.’ Wikipedia   Do I reflect that I am a ‘child of God’?  Do I really take time to understand what this means now, to me? Do I really understand the depths of what it means that God is always with me…in the now?    If God were standing next to me, how would I act?  Would I be afraid to be the way I normally am?  Do I put the needs of another person before my own?  Do I think of others before myself?  Do I not draw attention to myself?  Do I acknowledge that I’m not always right? Much of what I am referring to in these reflective questions has to do with understanding the reality of humility.  

This word originates from Latin, humus’ which means the ground or the earth.  A truly humble person is one grounded in honesty.  Am I an honest person?  Am I a real person?  The readings today help me to put flesh on what humility means for me.

My dad said that I would come across people who would fit into this description:  ‘I use to be proud, but now I don’t have any faults.’   I have and at times fallen into the same hole.  These statements are from Sunday Homily Helps:  

• “Humble acts cannot be done to achieve any purpose other than to please God, who exhibited the greatest act of humility in becoming human.  
• Humility is a very elusive gift.  Just when we think we have the virtue, we’ve lost it because of being proud of being humble. 
• This virtue begins with a decision to be humble before it is ever put int action.  
• It is a virtue that allows us to use our gifts without being prideful.  It is put into action with expectations.”

According to tradition, Sirach was a teacher in Jerusalem two centuries before Jesus’ birth.  He was devoted to the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible.  He filled his book with insights to help people get closer to knowing God and His instructions.  He encourages humility.  His constant reminder is that humble service to others will lead to a greater expression of gratitude from them than from giving them gifts.  Gifts last for a period of time.  Humility in a person shows that all things are a gift…starting with life itself.   He emphasized that caring for others and especially to the unfortunate, those most in need of caring and love makes one radiate with God’s light as Moses did when he returned from interacting with God.  Do I realize that I radiate love when I care for others and think of them as being a gift to me?  When I tend to think more of myself, I get caught up in ‘intellectual pride’ making myself more important and not recognizing the other person as being a child of God and a gift to me.  Humility is recognizing one’s rightful place and responding accordingly.  One definition of humility is ‘the quality or state of not thinking you are better than other people.’  It consists in recognizing my gifts and living the fact that my gifts have been given to be shared.  This must be a daily checking point in my spiritual development.  If it’s about me…God is missing.  If it’s about God, then it’s His gift through me to others.  How grateful I must be to live this.  

Paul is reminding his audience that daily they must grow closer to the Lord.  This is why Jesus came, lived, taught, cared, loved, was tortured and cruelly put to death:  to show us God’s total love for every person.  IT IS GOD who is with us. Jesus’ blood was shed for our salvation.  Today Paul is comparing Moses and Jesus. Moses offered sacrifices that were a precursor of Jesus’ offering of Himself, the perfect sacrifice.  What does this show us:  the most complete giving ever possible…Jesus’ death on the cross…God’s total, uncompromising love!  The bottom line is that THIS GOD…is with me every moment.  Is my life about me or about God?  Do others see God in me…or me in me, certainly no image of God.  

In Luke’s gospel, Jesus has been invited to dine at a leading Pharisee’s house on the Sabbath.  Everyone is watching very carefully. Jesus is showing the people what they ‘socially’ are doing, where they are sitting at table according to their 

‘status’.  Jesus is ‘putting the participants on trial.’  Do not pretend…if you exalt yourself, you will be humbled…and vice versa.  Humility is getting to the core of the issue:  all people are equal and equally loved by God at ever moment.  I have been invited out frequently.  I tell people, not to fuss.  They fuss.  Just noticing, how the table is set with tablecloth and really nice dishes and then the many course meal that follows is a testimony to the host’s hospitality.  I feel honored and special and very uncomfortable.  I learned long ago, that I have to give people a chance to love me.  But I also must be a person who is doing the loving too. I try to follow my own axiom that when I am loved, I try to love.  I find myself being more conscious of the ‘appeals’ that crowd my mailbox after I am treated with love.  Is this a reminder from the Holy Spirit to that I must also be a doer of the Word of God? A Devotional Commentary on Luke states:  “Jesus is with us today, encouraging us to be humble so that God can exalt us along with Him.  We need this encouragement because we tend to think quite highly of ourselves.  Pride about who we are and what we have prevents God from bringing us into a deeper union with Him.  Almighty God has made us free so that we can choose to love Him better than ourselves.  When we admit our need for God, His work of lifting us up can begin.  As people who desire to follow Jesus as our Master, we need to be aware of the ways we operate out of pride.  There is so much in our human nature that prevents us from acknowledging our true condition.  Without even noticing it, we count ourselves great in the kingdom of God.  Recognizing these attitudes can be a doorway to deeper union with Christ as we seek to follow Him.  ‘Heavenly Father, we have no works worthy of You.  Help us to be humble as we await Your work in us.’”

So I reflect on:

• How do I understand living with humility?
• Take time and name my gifts.  Say ‘Thank you, Lord.’  Then name my limitations. Say, ‘Teach me, Lord.’ 
• Lord help me to see myself as others do and as You see us.  Ground me in humility…truth…and love.

Sacred Space 2019 states:

   “When you allow this scene to unfold in your imagination a little bit, when you hear the words that Jesus pronounces aloud in front of His host, the guests, and the servants, it looks more and more like what Nicholas King, SJ calls it [in his ‘fresh translation’ of the New Testament]: a ‘disastrous dinner party.’  Somebody is going to end up red in the face as Jesus talks about places of honor and the lowest place.  Imagine a guest behaving like this at a party that you have organized.

   How do I relate to this story?  What does it have to do with me?”