Readings: Sir. 3:17-20,
28-29; Heb. 12:18-19, 22-24; Lk 14:1, 7-14
Stay Humble or
Stumble
The readings today address the virtue we
all need but sometimes find difficult to put into practice - humility. “My
child, conduct your affairs with humility, and you will be loved more than a
giver of gifts” (first reading). ‘Humility’ comes from the Latin word
‘humilitas’, a noun related to the adjective humilis, translated as “humble”, also
as “grounded”, or “from the earth”, since it derives from humus (earth). A
humble person has a modest or low view on his or her own importance. Jesus
Christ invites us to “…learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and
you will find rest for yourselves” (Matt. 11:29). The way of Christ is that of
the lamb of God who took away the sins of the world. He is the suffering
servant of God who is “not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard
in the street. A bruised reed he shall not break and a smoldering wick he shall
not quench, until he establishes justice on the earth” (Is. 42:1-4). And so the
readings call on us to be humble in dealing with others. He who is humble is
always loved by people. His humility is therefore a gift that is more than
material for he gives the gift of himself to others.
Humility is not self-abasement or
self-depreciating. We must not underestimate or underrate our abilities. God
has given us all gifts and they are for a good purpose to be put at the service
of God, to build up his body the church. Humility disposes us to put our time,
talent and treasure in the service of God and his people. It enables us to recognize
our weaknesses and limitations and make it possible for us to acknowledge that
everything we have comes from God hence, we receive God’s gifts with gratitude.
Since all we have is a gift from God, what we have and what we are should not make
us pompous, boastful, narcissistic, arrogant, haughty, conceited, egotistic and
inconsiderate. Rather, we should put God first in all things, people next
before ourselves. That is the fruit of humility. The book of Proverbs reminds us
that “Before his downfall a man’s heart is haughty, but humility goes before
honors” (Prov. 18:12). Pride goes before the fall, if we are not humble then we
stumble and fall. And what a fall that would be!
In the Gospel we have just heard we are
invited to dinner by God the father himself, just as Christ dinned at the
leading Pharisees’ house. Many of those invited were busy taking places of
honor regardless of who else was invited. This is a common phenomenon in our
society today. Christ reminds us that it is better to be invited to a high
table by our host than to be demoted to the floor seat with others. Wont we be
embarrassed if we are told to give up our place to someone more important than
ourselves? How do we present ourselves before God the Father and Jesus Christ,
his Son at the eucharistic table? Have we come to church with the sole purpose
of meeting the Lord and to celebrate with our brothers and sisters or have we
come to tell God of our importance? Do we discriminate against others at the
table of the Lord or do we see ourselves as brothers and sisters in worship of our
Father? Are we boastful and conceited like the Pharisee in the bible, “O God, I
thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity – greedy, dishonest,
adulterous – or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay
tithes on my whole income” or are we humble enough to know our position in life
and acknowledge our need for God? ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner’? (Lk.
18:9-14). It is true indeed that a humble person who often looks up to God
rarely looks down on anyone, especially if they were poor, for he does not see
himself as being better than anyone. Isn’t it funny that some of us like to sit
at the back pew in church but when invited to a social gathering we take the seat
at the high table with no consideration that someone greater than us may have
been invited and we may have to give up our seat to that person.
No comments:
Post a Comment