Humbling Oneself

Humbling Oneself

Lk 14: 1, 7 – 14

22^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Introduction

In today’s gospel, we hear Jesus telling a parable about humbling oneself. This message tells us something about the kind of life we need to embrace if we want to follow Jesus.

The Gospel

¹ On a sabbath he went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully.

⁷ He told a parable to those who had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table. ⁸ “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, ⁹ and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place. ¹⁰ Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say, ‘My friend, move up to a higher position.’ Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table. ¹¹ For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” ¹² Then he said to the host who invited him, “When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. ¹³ Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; ¹⁴ blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Reflection

Today’s Gospel is about humility. If we have to base our understanding of humility from this gospel, humility would mean not choosing a place of honor for ourselves but choosing what would be considered as the lowest place . Humility, then, would appear to be a choice and not something that is forced upon us. So if one wants to be humble, one makes a choice to embrace a lifestyle that is simple, unpretentious, unnoticeable and perhaps even obscure.

Unfortunately, this is the complete opposite of the culture we have today where people have the great need to be known and popular; where people want to have not only riches, but plenty of it; where people want to be powerful and be in positions of authority.

Wealth, power and fame define people in today’s  world. Those who don’t have them would only exist in obscurity. Eventually, people who live in obscurity become part of a nameless collective in a forgotten sea of humanity. The truth is that our world revolves around the popular, the rich and the famous. Everyone else not in this category becomes anonymous.

But becoming anonymous and obscure in society does not automatically make one humble. Humility is a choice. And because it is a choice, one chooses it. People who are popular, wealthy or powerful can still choose to be humble. One who chooses to be humble always makes the choice to be simple and unpretentious, and yes, at times almost anonymous.  Decisions that we make that favor a life of humility will always be a counter cultural choice, meaning that it completely goes against a system of values embraced by the world.

The second message of this reading has something to do also with humility. Jesus says that when you invite people for a banquet, invite those who are not be able to pay you in return. Instead, invite those who are disabled to do so.

Humility doesn’t seek any affirmation especially from those who have received favors from us. Seeking affirmation eventually becomes self-seeking.  

Jesus simply wants us to do good so that the good that we do becomes the reward in itself.  

But what seems to be the reason why Jesus wants us to embrace humility?

First, because, in remaining humble, we allow God alone to lift us up and give us the honor that we deserve. In fact our reading tells us that those who “exalt themselves will be humbled but those who humble themselves will be exalted.” If being exalted is the prize for choosing humility, being humiliated is the prize for those who have sought exaltation and honor.

Second, Jesus wants us to embrace humility because he was himself humble. He chose to be humble. St. Paul tells us, that though Jesus was in the form of God, he took the form of a slave and was obedient unto death. For God to become man is a humbling choice. And he did not just become a man, he became a slave who was obedient to God and who came not to be served but to serve. This is why Jesus always presents humility as a choice; because it was his choice to be humble from the moment he became man.

Jesus exhorts us to be humble because it is the kind of life that he lived. He chose to be born in a stable; he chose to run away from a king who wanted to kill him as a baby; he chose to become a refugee in a foreign land; he chose to live in an obscure village; he chose not to be in a position of power in either politics or religion; finally, he chose to die a criminal’s death by dying on the cross so that we may have life.

Choosing humility is choosing a life like that of Jesus. Let us ask him to give us the grace to choose humility so we can follow him.

Prayer

Jesus, meek and humble of heart. I am humbled when I see you. I am so full of myself, seeking fame, wealth and power. I seek the affirmation of people because it feels good to enjoy the esteem of others. But when I see you Lord, I feel so ashamed. You who have created everything there is have chosen to live a life of a servant. Teach me to choose humility Lord, so I may follow in your footsteps. It isn’t easy to do so. But let me gaze on you so that I may find the reason for choosing humility and embracing it fully in my life. Amen.

“Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus,⁶ who, though he was in the form of God,
    did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.
⁷     Rather, he emptied himself,
    taking the form of a slave,
    coming in human likeness;
    and found human in appearance,
⁸     he humbled himself,
        becoming obedient to death,
        even death on a cross.”   – Phil 2: 6 - 8