Homily for August 29, 2004
Year C - Cycle II
22nd Sunday
in Ordinary
Time
Reading I
Sir 3: 17-18, 20, 28-29
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. What is too sublime for you, seek not, into
things
beyond your strength search not. The mind of a sage appreciates
proverbs, and
an attentive ear is the joy of the wise. Water quenches a flaming fire,
and
alms atone for sins.
Reading II
Heb 12:18-19, 22-24a
Brothers and sisters:
You
have not approached that which could be touched
and a blazing fire and gloomy darkness and storm and a trumpet blast
and a
voice speaking words such that those who heard begged that no message
be
further addressed to them. No, you have approached Mount Zion and the
city of
the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and countless angels in festal
gathering, and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven, and
God the
judge of all, and the spirits of the just made perfect, and Jesus, the
mediator
of a new covenant, and the sprinkled blood that speaks more eloquently
than
that of Abel.
Gospel Reading
Luke 14:1,7-14
On a Sabbath Jesus went to
dine
at the home of one of the leading Pharisees,
and the people there were observing him carefully. . .He told a parable
to
those who had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the places
of honor
at the table. "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, 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. 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. For every one who exalts himself will be
humbled, but
the one who humbles himself will be exalted." 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. Rather, when you hold
a
banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed
indeed
will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be
repaid at
the resurrection of the righteous."
The first
reading is from
the book of Sirach, which is one of the books of Wisdom. In it, it
communicates
to us that if we are really wise, if we are sages then we will be
humble. We won’t, even if we have a lot of
gifts, we
won’t be exalting ourselves because of them.
Having become sages, it is then that we’ll have the joy of the
wise.
In the epistle
to the
Hebrews, the author is telling people they should be very happy because
they
have not fallen into idolatry, even when the gods of idolatry are
rather
stunning and wonderful. But they have
gone to Mount Zion in a very humble way, to the one true God, and
followed
Jesus Christ, who is the mediator of the new covenant.
In the parable
that St.
Luke gives us in the Gospel reading, Jesus is teaching us that we must
always
seek the lowest place. If God wants to
lift us up, God will do so. If we are
in a position of exaltation and inviting other people to share it, we
shouldn't
invite people that we think are going to pay us back.
We should invite the humble.
In conclusion, we are challenged by all the readings today to try to bring humility into our daily lives so that we can truly follow Jesus.