By Fr. Eugene Lobo S.J. –
Twenty-Second Sunday of the Year August 28, 2022
Sirach 3:17-18.20.28-29; Hebrews 12:18-19.22-24a; Luke 14:1.7-14
As human persons, we often aim to possess all power and control, to be the first in every possible situation, to remain at the top, and have a lead over the others. At times our humility has been crushed by pride and we are not able to forge ahead. Humility, the virtue recommended to us is a wise and saintly basic virtue of Christian life. It is the one virtue that our Lord told us to copy from him as he asks us to learn from him for he is meek and humble of heart. In the Gospel of today, Jesus dines with religious leaders and takes the opportunity to teach some important qualities of discipleship particularly that of humility. Jesus recommends other virtues but tells us that humility is the foundation on which all other Christian virtues are built. He invites us to recognize our own lowliness before God and at the same time speaks to us of the importance of accepting the marginalized and the downtrodden persons. The rich and the powerful find it difficult to be humble before God. They rely too much on their own strength and security. In the first reading, a wise teacher is giving sound advice to his students that humility will bring them favour before the eyes of God. Humility means serving others rather than self.
In the First Reading from the Book of Sirach we have the words of wisdom of the saintly man who spent his life meditating on the law of God. His concern was to offer help to those truly interested in guiding their lives by the Law of Moses. He as a loving father, advices the people to live in humility remembering that they are the creatures of God. He teaches the people that if they perform their tasks with humility, they will be loved by those whom God accepts. The author defines humility as serving others rather than the individual self. It is the fundamental characteristic of the servant of God.
Today’s Second Reading from the Letter to the Hebrews advices us not to relapse into the old ways indicating the time prior to conversion. We are encouraged to persevere to the end of the path that leads us to our heavenly inheritance. The author wants to impress on the Jewish converts the superiority of the Christian religion over that of the Old Testament which they had practiced. He emphasizes that Jesus is the fulfilment of all OT hopes. To encourage the Christians he points out the rewards that await those who persevere in their living faith.
Let us now reflect on the Gospel passage of today. On the Sabbath, Jesus went to eat at the home of one of the Pharisees who lived in that place where Jesus was proclaiming the Kingdom of God. Naturally, people watched him, especially the doctors of the Law, the religious teachers of the time. For Jesus had been in the habit of healing people on the Sabbath, which was something the doctors and the scribes could not tolerate. And, indeed, on that day Jesus healed a sick man, a man who had dropsy. They observed Jesus, who had come to heal souls and bodies. But what can or cannot be done on the Sabbath day is not something that is to be decided by men, but rather by God, and God alone. Jesus heals on a Sabbath day. For him human person is important.
Here Jesus takes advantage of sharing table fellowship with a leading Pharisee to teach some controversial teaching on humility. In a culture regulated by the social concepts of honour and shame, people strove to achieve honour and avoid shame. Who you ate with, where you placed yourself at the table, how you ate, all had important social significance. That meant that at a meal one should attempt to get a seat closest to the host which would be the most honourable place to be. The worst thing that could happen would be that you have to give up your seat of honour to another person having previously occupied and take a lower place. Jesus no doubt watched people scramble for higher seats but he encouraged them to do just the opposite, to take the lowest place. When the host recognizes the worth of the person, he is sure to receive his rightful honour. Indeed little did people know how God deals with people and rewards them for their humility. Jesus during his life on earth was an example of humility.
Again, the Gospel tells us that the Kingdom of God, the perfect society, which is the goal of the Christian message, is often pictured as a banquet. It is an occasion of sharing and joyfulness an opportunity of being together. There is plenty and enough and more to avail every single person’s needs. Here Jesus was instructing his disciples how the guests should occupy place at the table when invited by someone. As a general rule in a fixed system, the most distinguished guest sits at the right hand of the host where he receives the highest honour. The second most important guest sits at the left side of the host, and so on. While Jesus was aware of this fixed system, he used this example of good manners at the table to draw attention and how honour is given in the Kingdom of God. It is God who gives the honour and God Himself who tells the least worthy to come up higher.
Jesus’ second message in today’s Gospel reading is the advice to the host regarding who should be invited and who should not. Often the invitation is expecting to be invited by them in return and show gratitude. A lot of people have a problem with this teaching because it goes against a social tradition. Guests who are invited to a party feel obligated to invite the host in the near future. He tells them to invite those who cannot repay them gratitude or invite them for a similar meal. If an invited guest is poor and cannot afford to hold a meal he may be labelled as one of lower grade. From that follows a classification system where the rich are associated with the rich and the poor being associating themselves with the poor. He tells the host to invite those who are poor, the cripple, the lame, and the blind who cannot reciprocate the invitatation.
This parable was intended in the first instance for the Pharisees but it has a lesson for all people. A proud follower of humble Christ is indeed a contradiction in terms. St Paul clearly tells us how Christ humbled himself even becoming a slave for our sake. He was born in a stable, grew up in an obscure village of Nazareth, earned his livelihood as an ordinary carpenter, did not have a house of his during his public life, and finally died on the cross between two thieves and was buried in a borrowed grave. He could boldly say, learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart. In the Gospel of today, it is Jesus who tells us that one who exalts himself will be humbled. He tells his followers that to be in his kingdom a person has to be humble like the master.
Yet the Gospel passage presents a challenge faced by Jesus. They had invited him for a meal on a Sabbath day and watched him closely whether he would be breaking the law and thus find some opportunity to accuse him. He had already given them the opportunity to accuse him of eating with the tax collectors and sinners. Here he seems to break another rule and a normal procedure by asking them to occupy the lower seats. Jesus here seems to be proposing that we rather try to work towards creating a circle society, a circle, there is no top or bottom. All within the circle are equal and all face each other.
Famous inventor Samuel Morse who was once asked if he ever encountered situations where he didn’t know what to do. Morse responded, “More than once, and whenever I could not see my way clearly, I knelt down and prayed to God for light and understanding.” Morse received many honours from his invention of the telegraph but felt undeserving: “I have made a valuable application of electricity not because I was superior to other men but solely because God, who meant it for mankind, must reveal it to someone and He was pleased to reveal it to me.”
“There was once a wise woman traveling in the mountains who found a precious stone in a stream. She picked it and placed it in her bag. The next day she met another traveller and she opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveller saw the precious stone and asked if she might give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveller left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime, but a few days later he came to the woman and said: ‘I’ve been thinking; I know how valuable the stone is, but I’m giving it back in the hope that you can give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone.’ The humility and emptiness of the woman and the man.
Nice homily!