Be humble and later be exalted
TODAY is Sun day, September 1, 2019. It is also the first Sunday of the month and today is also the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary time of the Catholic Church liturgical calendar.
This Sunday’s Psalm is, “God, in your goodness, you have made a home for the poor.”
The 1st Reading of the day is from Sir 3:17-18; 20, 28-29. It says:
My son, conduct your affairs with discretion and you will be loved by those who are acceptable by God. The greater you are, the more you should humble yourself and thus you will find favor with God.
For great is the power of the Lord and it is the humble who give him glory.
For the sufferings of the proud man there is no remedy; the roots of evil are implanted in him. The wise man reflects on proverbs. What the wise man desires is an attentive ear.
The 2nd Reading is from Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a.
What you have come to, is nothing known to the senses; nor heat of a blazing fire, darkness and gloom and storms, blasts of trumpets or such a voice that the people pleaded that no further word be spoken.
But you came near Mt. Zion, to the City of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, with its innumerable angels. You have come to the solemn feast, the assembly of the firstborn of God, whose names are written in heaven. There is God, Judge of all, with the spirits of the upright, brought to perfection. There is Jesus, the mediator of the new Covenant, with the sprinkled blood that cries out more effectively than Abel’s.
Today’s Gospel is from Luke 14:1, 7-14.
One Sabbath Jesus has gone to eat a meal in the house of a leading Pharisee, and he was carefully watched.
Jesus then told a parable to the guests, for he had noticed how they tried to take the places of honor. And he said, “When you are invited to a wedding party, do not choose the best seat. It may happen that someone more important than you has been invited; and your host, who invited both of you, will come and say to you, ‘Please give this person your place.’ What shame is yours when you take the lowest seat!
Whenever you are invited, go rather to the lowest seat, so that your host may come and say to you, ‘Friend, you must come up higher.’ And this will be a great honor for you in the presence of all the other guests. For whoever makes himself out to be great will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” Jesus also addressed the man who had invited him, and said, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends, or your brothers and relatives, or your wealthy neighbors. For surely, they will also invite you in return, and you will be repaid. When you give a feast, invite instead the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind. Fortunate are you
then, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the upright.”
READ: The reading from Sirach admonishes us to be humble so we find favor with God. The Letter to the Hebrew speaks of the heavenly feast in which we come, together with the firstborn of God. In the Gospel reading, Jesus speaks of humbling oneself so that later on we will be exalted.
REFLECT: Being humble takes on a special place in the reign of God. The humble person recognizes what his status and who she/he is before God. She/he recognizes God as the source of all and her/his origin. She/ he does not place God aside but instead acknowledges his power and love. She/he does not usurp that which belongs primarily to God. For instance, the cook/chef who is able to prepare delicious and nice looking dish acknowledges where the ingredients come from and how they are produced. She/he does not claim sole credit for the dish. (There are many other examples through which we can detect the presence or absence of humility in a person.) The humble person recognizes the goodness and giftedness of others. She/he does not look down on other people. She/he sees them also capable of doing something great and worthwhile. She/he is free to associate with the poor and marginalized of society. It does not bother him/ her to be with them.
NB: Our heartfelt thanks to the Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc., publisher of the book “Bible Diary 2019” from where we source the word of God that we share with our fellow faithful every Sunday possible.