"Go and take the lowest place"
The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/082822.cfm
-------------------------------
One day a follower of St. Francis of Assisi, Br. Mateo, came to him in frustration and asked him: “Why you? Why you?” St. Francis responded to this Friar and said: “What do you mean?” The brother answered, “Why does the whole world follow you? Every person wants to see you, to hear you, and to obey you. You’re not a good-looking man, you’re not of great learning. you’re not noble, why then does everyone want to follow you?”
On hearing this St. Francis rejoiced greatly
in spirit. He raised his face towards
heaven in prayer. Then he turned to Br. Mateo and said: “Do you want to know
why me? Do you want to know why the whole world follows me? It is because the
most holy Lord intends to do a wonderful work and a merciful Lord has not seen
among men a more detestable and more worthless and more loathsome man than me.”
Br. Mateo was wonderstruck at the humility of St. Francis.
What we learn from this short story is that humility is
not about thinking less of yourself but of thinking of yourself less. The
powerful parable that Jesus tells in the home of a leading Pharisee reveals
that following the Lord and living in this world is not about competing for the
best place or fame or power or glory but more about thinking low in order to be
raised high.
These readings this Sunday really do challenge our
perception of what is important in this life. It’s about rethinking our place
and seeing ourselves in relationship to God and then our place with each other.
The first reading from Sirach states: “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.” (Sir 3: 17-18). That seems crystal clear yet how best to achieve that
without drawing attention to ourselves, going through the motions with no real
inner conviction, or to put aside our natural desire to seek affirmation or
honor is not always easy.
So as Jesus entered the home of a leading Pharisee and
those of his like-minded movers and shakers who were among the wealthy and
influential, he finds that they observe him. What are they wanting to see from
the Lord? The scripture in plies that
this so-called observation was not one of esteem but rather one of suspicion.
Where will Jesus trip up? What will he say or do that will support their
suspicions that although more and more crowds are following him, his ultimate
goal is to challenge their leadership and create even more serious opposition.
They already questioned his teachings.
That being so, Jesus now turns on his hosts and implies
that all this jockeying around for positions of honor among them was seen by
Jesus as a teachable moment. Where you
sat, who you were with and with whom you were seen was not the way of his
teaching, despite it being a cultural norm. What may appear insulting to his
host on the part of our Lord was a call to conversion by his listeners that
Jesus could not pass up. In the end it is not honor from others we should seek
but rather honor from God who will decide the seating placement at his banquet.
Think low, think of yourself less and take the lowest place. Isn’t this what God himself did in entering
this world?
Luke relates this banquet image as the place where Jesus
took center stage in radically changing the cultural and religious expectation to
reveal an important moral lesson about table behavior which symbolizes our
place before God. In this case it is a
lesson about humility in place of viewing oneself as somehow entitled or
privileged to sit “in a place of honor.” Who has a place at our “table” – our
lives?
As places of honor at such table gatherings were coveted
positions it was also expected that if you were invited to a dinner, it was
only right for you to invite your host in like manner. I came to you now you
come to me. Let’s keep it all on the same standard and maintain our mutual
higher positions.
Favors were based on reciprocity: you do me a favor then I do you a favor, back
and forth. But, if our whole life is focused on honor, attention, surrounding
ourselves only with others who can pay us back, “keeping up with the Jones’s,
“or if our parish life is focused on only one class of parishioners or those
who keep us comfortable, then we have a misguided sense of who belongs at our
table. Yet, in the parable he tells, Jesus turns the priority elsewhere and
teaches about kingdom behavior.
We hear our Lord advising: Do not invite those who can repay you but
rather “. . invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind . . . for you
will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” We can just hear, “The poor and crippled at
my table? I think not!” Why them? They can’t
repay! I don’t imagine the Pharisee would ever do such a thing nor would his
companions which made Jesus’ teaching all the more suspicious.
So, it begins with this radical invitation to think
differently and reorient our lives in the direction the Lord shows in order to
gain a place of honor of God’s kingdom In the end we know that humility should
be a part of every disciple’s life. Pay back is not at all the issue but to
offer charity to those who truly need it.
To not forget that they too have a very special place at God’s “wedding
banquet.” To love is to wish good for the other plain and simple.
Further, Jesus advises, if we want to seek favor from
anyone, it should at best be from God.
This, once again, is a further reminder of how we must be in this world
of ours – how I choose to be Christian and show Christ Jesus to others around
me.
Our Eucharist gatherings can only be authentic as Jesus
intended when we always scoot over and admit there is still room for more, for
any who would like to join with us. To do otherwise, in our attitude or
perception, is to be contrary to a Christian spirit.
Renewed by bread from the heavenly table,
we beseech you, Lord,
that, being the food of charity,
it may confirm our hearts
and stir us to serve you in our neighbor.
Through Christ our Lord.
(Prayer after Communion)
No comments:
Post a Comment