Cycle C - Year I:

1 September 2019: Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical Color: Green)

Readings:

First Reading: Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29

Second Reading: Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a

Gospel: Please Read Luke 14:1, 7-14

To seek God with a humble heart!

Sometimes wealth and power may give a person the illusion of greatness and immortality. Perhaps because they can give one a false sense of importance and personal worth.

But then, can wealth and power buy us a ticket to eternal life? Remember that just last Sunday, our Lord Jesus warns us that we cannot enter through the narrow gate to God's kingdom unless we travel light. That means, without excess baggage.

In this Sunday's Gospel our Lord reminds us again to be authentic Christian witnesses for the Lord's kingdom in our every day life situations.

St. Luke writes in the Gospel narrative that Jesus accepts an invitation from one of the Pharisees to come and dine at his house. While there, Jesus observes how the other guests scramble for choice seats of honor at the dining table.

Now we know that our Lord Jesus is a great and practical teacher. He was always looking for ways to preach to His followers. Occasionally, He would masterfully craft a story to explain the Good News. At other times, Jesus would take a real life event and use it as a powerful teaching moment. Still on other occasions, Jesus would use a combination of these two modes of preaching. The Gospel passage this Sunday is an example of this last method.

Our Lord Jesus seizes the gathering at the house of His host to teach His followers, not with proper table manners, but with our inner disposition before the "table of the Lord".

Now in the Lord's table there is no place for self-righteousness nor for human desire for honor and recognition. Rather, in the Lord's feast there are places only for humility, joy, and thanksgiving for the blessings we have been invited to share.

And humility is the foundation of all other virtues for Christians. But true humility is not having a low opinion of yourself, or thinking of yourself as inferiors to others.

A humble person makes a realistic assessment of himself without illusion of pretense to be someone or something he is not. Thus, a humble person does not have to wear a mask or put on a facade in order to look good to others who do not know who he really is. He is not swayed by accidentals, such as fame, reputation, or success.

Because humility frees us to love and serve others selflessly, for their sake, rather than our own need for recognition. It allows us to see ourselves as blessed, so that we can share with others the bountiful blessings we also receive from the Lord.

More importantly, humility invites us to be honest about our faults, weaknesses and sins. Thus, it keeps us on our knees, praying for God's strength, mercy and assistance. But also, humility encourages us to be honest about our gifts and talents as well, and encourages us to discover them, cultivate them, and put them to good use for the greater glory of God through Christian charity and love.

And when we happily use our God-given talents in serving others, we acknowledge that God is the true source of all goodness. Then we realize that we are all equal in the eyes of the Lord.

May we have the strength and grace to humble ourselves before the banquet of the Lord, so that one day the Lord Himself will also exalt us. Amen.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!