Weekly Lectionary Reflections from the Passionist JPIC Office

Twenty Second Sunday of Ordinary Time: True Humility

Aug 24, 2010

Lectionary Readings:

Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29. A humble person finds favor with God and will be endowed with wisdom and the love of loyal friends.
Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24. You have drawn near the heavenly Jerusalem, to the assembly of the firstborn, to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant.
Luke 14:1, 7-14. By means of a parable about seats of honor at a banquet Jesus shows that those who exalt themselves shall be humbled and those who humble themselves shall be exalted.

Thoughts for your Consideration: By Fr. Phil Paxton, CP

In today’s Gospel reading from Luke, Jesus observes people choosing where they would sit at a banquet, and uses the opportunity to teach them about humility: “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” I believe that if we looked at our own lives, we could testify to the truth of Jesus’ statement from our own experience.

And our own experience tells us that it is God who does the exalting, and it is God who does the humbling. Sometimes we try to be in charge of the process. There are times when we may calculate that if we humble ourselves we will be exalted. But if we try to do that, we are still trying to exalt ourselves. Sometimes there are others who want to do the humbling, but that is usually done out of malice or envy, and it does not work, either.

What can help us come to an attitude of true humility? Turning to Jesus. Jesus says to the host who invited Him, “When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” If we were to consider these words in terms of the heavenly banquet, or in the context of the Mass, could we not see that Jesus practices what He preaches? Has not Jesus invited us, even when we have been poor, or crippled by anxiety or fear, or made lame by grief and sorrow, or even blinded by resentment or selfishness? Has not Jesus sacrificed Himself for us, without any expectation, or even possibility, of repayment? Does not Jesus constantly call us, even when we are in sin, to Himself?

When we reflect on how Jesus humbled Himself out of love for us, our only response can be humility. There can be no pretending to be better than or more important than someone else. We are all in need of God’s grace and love in Jesus Christ! As we are humble before the love of God, so are we to be humble with each other. An attitude of humility doesn’t allow for prejudice or discrimination. No person or group of persons can set themselves up as being superior or more deserving of life’s benefits than others. We cannot withhold opportunities from others based simply on the fact that they are different from us!

What if we were to take Jesus’ statement to His host into all aspects of our life, not just as individuals, but as a society? What if “the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind” were invited to the table where decisions were made? I remember seeing a special on LBJ’s “Great Society” programs of the late sixties. One intriguing aspect of the War on Poverty was the principle of “maximum possible participation of the poor.” Even when we are committed to working for social justice, we can be patronizing if we do not listen to the people for whom we’re trying to advocate. Being humble often leads us into different ways of doing things and relating to others! I have found that humility is one of the best antidotes to prejudice. If I am humble enough to recognize that I can learn from those who are different, whatever might have been the basis for my prejudice falls away.