(James Tissot: Jesus and the Pharisees)
"For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,
but the one who humbles himself will be exalted"
The Word for Sunday: http://usccb.org/bible/readings/090113.cfm
Sir 3:17-18, 20, 28-29
Heb 12:18-19, 22-24a
Lk 14:1, 7-14
We
are naturally impressed when someone of great importance or power performs a
compassionate act of genuine humility. Our Holy Father
Pope Francis is an obvious example of one who looks beyond his position to be a
true humble servant of God as he reaches out to wash the feet of prisoners,
spontaneously calls people on the phone, dresses in less elaborate vestments
for Mass, visits a slum in Brazil, and speaks about the need to never forget the poor and so on.
Or
the British Family under King George VI, the father of the present Queen
Elizabeth, who did not run from London during the bombing of World War II but
stayed in the city with
the general population, putting his own life and that of his family in danger, in order to display a certain sympathy with the
suffering.
There
may be other examples from each of our lives of people we’ve known who hold
certain positions of power and prestige but are humble and not filled with
themselves or their own importance. Such examples of human compassion win the
esteem of others and gain respect for our leaders.
The
readings this Sunday speak to us of the importance of humility as Jesus uses
the example of who sits where during a banquet at the home of a leading Pharisee.
These dinners were not just a casual get
together. These dinners were places for debate and clear social ranking. Notice in the Gospel that “the people there
were observing him carefully . . .” This was not to see where he sat but rather
to trap him in some blatant break of the sacred Law through his teaching or
some other bold pronouncement which these law keepers would consider offensive.
Rather, Jesus turns the tables on them.
In
ancient culture, the meal was a place to gain favor from others. If one accepted the invitation to a meal
those invited were obligated to return the favor. To not return a favor with a favor would have
been considered insulting. Thus, it was not unusual to turn down an invitation
if one knew they could never equal the banquet of their hosts. So, it was obviously a place to invite your
equals and to shun others who just didn’t measure up. The poor, blind, crippled
would not even be considered as guests.
That Jesus was at least invited by one of the leading Pharisees shows
that he was held in some esteem, though suspicion as well, by the religious
leaders of his time.
Despite
this, Jesus speaks about “places of honor” at the banquet and those who vie for
such positions in order to emphasize their own prestige in the social order. As
always, he turns the social order of his time on its head and advises: “. . .
when you are invited, go and take the lowest place . . .” and to invite, “. . .
the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind . . .” who cannot repay your
hospitality. How dare he suggest this! How insulting actually.
Is
this proper meal etiquette? What would the neighbors think? What would your
esteemed friends think? Who wants to sit next to the crippled and blind? What
would you ever talk about anyway? In challenging the red lines drawn between
who is righteous and acceptable in religious society and who is to be shunned,
Jesus challenges his audience to reevaluate their own prejudices and positions
about who’s in and who’s out.
Here
he implies that we are made righteous before God not by the power of the law,
by cultural norms, or by arrogant self-promotion. We are made right before God by our
inclusiveness and in particular by our position towards those who are welcome
to the feast God has prepared for us – and those who are welcome is
everyone. For those who come to believe in the Lord Jesus and embrace the call to conversion of heart and life, it's their meal too. Tit for tat or the ability to
grant a favor for a favor means nothing to God.
What means everything is our humility as we reverence the dignity of
each person: the child in the womb, the mentally or physically limited, the
frail elderly, the troubled and disturbed in particular.
At
the sacred banquet of the Holy Eucharist we find a God who sacrificed not just
for a chosen few but for all who would come to believe. Where we find ourselves seated in the banquet
of life, if we want to truly be Jesus’ disciple, must not be about competition
or self-advancement. Rather, it must be
about the interest of another. As Christ
has been for us so we must be for each other.
As
the first reading from Sirach reminds us: “Humble yourself the more, the
greater you are, and you will find favor with God . . .”
What
a plan for life that is.
God of might, giver of every good gift,
put into our hearts the love of your name,
so that, by deepening our sense of reverence,
you may nurture in us what is good
and, by your watchful care,
keep safe what you have nurtured.
(Collect
of Mass)
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