Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.

 

 

Twenty Second in OT  C  2025

 

In the first Scripture reading from the Book of Sirach, we read:  ‘My child, conduct your affairs with humility, and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts.  Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with God.

This Old Testament teaching on humility is a lead-in to today’s Gospel.  From the evangelist Luke,  Jesus’ table fellowship is the context for teaching.  Much of Jesus’ teaching takes place in or around meals.  Jesus also will share table fellowship with anyone from Pharisee to leper.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is at a banquet and He notices how people scrambles to sit at places of honor.  It’s a very human scene –we are like recognition, respect, and prestige.  But Jesus turns that moment into a teaching on humility:  “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles will be exalted.”

Jesus is dining at the home of a leading Pharisee.  Jesus has obviously been invited for more than pleasant conversation.  The people at the meal are observing him carefully.  He is known for not following protocol during his table fellowship.  As the story proceeds, the dynamic shifts from the people observing Jesus to Jesus observing them. He is a wisdom teacher offering lessons in humility.

As Jesus observes the how the guests migrate immediately to places of honor, Jesus turns the notions of honor upside down.  Jesus says it is humility that brings honor in the eyes of God.

As we well know, in the political arena, in the sports world, and all too often in corporate life, climbing the ladder of success leads us to a self-centeredness that places ourselves at the center of the universe.

The disciples of Jesus are to have a healthy sense of the value and the virtue of humility.  C. S. Lewis says that “humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less.”  Humility leads to compassion and leads to be involved in the lives of others.  Humility is not poor self-esteem; it is not a refusal to take any credit; a humble person is not disturbed by praise.  Rather, if we desire to be humble, we need to look into the eyes of people in need and identify with their pain and hurts and to respond with humble love to lift up people in need

Humility is not just modesty about my talents.  It is about looking into the eyes of another and identifying with their hurts.  Moreover, not just their hurts, we are look in the eyes of another and see God’s beauty deep within their spirit.

Humility frees us to see others not as rivals but as brothers and sisters.

And as Jesus indicates in the gospel, without humility we cannot have a relationship with God.  To enter the wedding banquet – and heaven will be a glorious banquet with Jesus as the Bridegroom and the Church as the Bride – to enter the wedding banquet, says Jesus, “take the lowest seat.”

Knowing God makes us humble; knowing ourselves keeps us humble.  All is a gift of God and we are the gracious recipients of God’s merciful love.  The talents we have are God’s gifts to us.  Knowing ourselves and our own limitations keeps us humble.

Jesus goes on even further:  he tells the host not to invite only friends, family or wealthy neighbors—people who can repay him – but the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.  Why? Because when we reach out to those who cannot repay us, we are imitating the generosity of God Himself.  God loves us not because of what we can give Him, but simple because we are His children.

Humility helps us to see ourselves as God sees us: loved but also in need of His mercy,

In today’s Gospel, Jesus has a strange way of looking on whom to invite and who are the most important.  The point is everyone is invited to the banquet of Jesus.

How do we take this gospel about how to hold a banquet and who to sit next to, how do we put it to work? It isn’t hard to see that every part of our lives are touched by questions of who makes our guest list and who does not. Just for one example, it’s hard not to notice that in such a pleasant suburban place to live as we all live in, separation from others is just part of our world here whether we planned it that way or not, and it’s a constant challenge to ask ourselves about how we feel about the people who are not here, who are not a visible part of this daily world of ours. They are all guests at the same banquet to which we are welcomed.

How are we to react to the unspeakable killing and injuring of the school  children in Minneapolis Catholic school this past Wednesday.  For sure, we are on high alert for the safety of our children.  We deal much too often with the scourge of gun violence.  Our hearts reach out to all who are victims of this violence.

The challenge of today’s gospel is to look honestly at where we seat ourselves in all the settings of our life, and who is included when we look around to see who is with us, who we exclude from the circle of people we refer to when we use the word “us.” We’re building the kingdom heaven here, where we find ourselves, at least that is supposed to be our task, and the kingdom of heaven is a place where literally everyone is invited, equally entitled to be there. And Jesus doesn’t say this, but he implies it, apparently we’re going to be kind of shocked, when we get to that ultimate kingdom of heaven, and find we are reunited not only with those we love but also everyone we didn’t, seated together in a way that has burned away everything that once separated us.

As we gather for this Eucharistic meal today, we reflect on how we have gathered for this meal.  Do we see each other as brothers and sisters?   Do we see ourselves as servants of each other?  Do we see ourselves as the servants of all who are poor?

There must be a welcome in our Eucharistic community for the needy signified by the gospel phrase ‘the poor, crippled, lame, and blind.’  What efforts do we make to ensure that no individual or group is excluded from the Lord’s meal?

 

Have a blessed day.