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22nd Sunday Ordinary Time

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Cycle C

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C127: Today's gospel (Luke 14:1, 7-14) seems to describe social "honors" and "esteem" as future events, not something to be sought today. Why is this?

There is a stunning linkage made by Jesus today between the last judgment (e.g., as described in Matthew's gospel, 25:34-45), and our action or inaction in welcoming and assisting the poor and outcast in the present day. Jesus says that we can receive instant recognition if we seek out places of honor today, but it won't do us any good in the next life. On the other hand, our actions in helping the poor and oppressed in this life will definitely receive an eternal reward on judgment day, when the Lord himself will call us to places of honor.

True humility is reflected in our personal attitude of always being dependent upon God. This is just the opposite of prideful self-importance. We need to remember that the People of God are a sacrament or sign of the presence of God, and they are inclusive of all those whom society rejects. No one is exalted in this Christian community above any other member. As our song says, "We are one body, the Body of Christ!"

Reflection: Do we come to our liturgical celebrations as Pharisees? Do we seek places of honor in our assemblies, or does our posture reflect arrogant pride? What about at our workplaces: how do I practice "humility" in that environment?

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Q282: Today's gospel (Lk 14:1,7-14) about places of honor at a wedding feast is described as a "parable" (v.7), but it seems to be nothing more than a lesson in "good table manners." What is Jesus' point?

Indeed, at first Jesus seems to be simply passing on a known lesson in good manners, such as can be found in Proverbs 25:6-7. However, the motivation of both types of dinner guests is suspect and comes from selfish interests, since a "higher position at table" is being sought by the crafty device of pretending humility. Jesus knows the hearers would rebel at this; after all, he is in the house of a Pharisee in the company of other Pharisees (14:1) who are known to all for their self-seeking behavior in pursuit of conspicuous honor (e.g., Matt 23:6), in a culture where "honor" is everything.

Then Jesus drops the other shoe! The really honorable thing to do, he says, is to invite those who cannot play "back scratch," who cannot reciprocate. That means inviting the poor, the sick, the lame, the needy. But if you do that in that culture, then you dishonor yourself because you have gone outside your social status level and you will be publicly humiliated.

This is precisely Jesus' point and message, and the challenge of the parable. He is saying that no one must be excluded from the gathering at the community banquet. Only God can determine who is to be honored - - as indeed God will do on the day of resurrection, paying special honor to those who invited the uninvitable.

The problem facing Luke's community, perhaps fifty years after the Ascension, is simply "how to treat the poor at the Eucharistic meal." The answer is clear, based on Jesus' parable: no one is to be excluded from the Eucharistic meal based on social status. Barriers to covenant love must come down -- no rich, no poor, no Jew, no Gentile. Christians are to be one humble family, united. Only God determines honor, based on the way we humbly treat each other.

Know Your Catechism! True humility brings us back into the light of communion between the Father and his Son Jesus Christ and with one another; for this reason asking forgiveness for creating barriers to unity is a prerequisite for both the Eucharistic liturgy and personal prayer (CCC #2631). Our total dependence on God is called poverty of spirit, and prepares us for the kingdom (CCC #2546-47).

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Humble yourselves the more, the greater you are.

In today's gospel, Jesus warns us not to seize the place of honor at a banquet. That place may have been reserved for a VIP If so, we will have to pay for our vanity by being sent to a lower table.

Is ambition always out of place? So long as the ambitious person is also highly qualified, little harm is done. Still, he who is promoted simply because of his merits will always win the greater admiration.

General Omar Bradley was one of the outstanding American officers in World War II. For several years before his death, he had the rare distinction of being a permanent five-star general. But as he stated in a 1971 interview that appeared in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, all his promotions had come unsought.

Bradley was a West Point graduate, a military man by profession, but as he always insisted, not a militarist. (He was noted for his compassion.) Reflecting on his advances in rank, he said, "I never thought about promotions. I tried to do my job a little better than was expected of me, to study a little harder than was expected of me." Thus, he rose not because of ambition, but because of demonstrated talent.

George Washington, in his day, was also chosen as general and president because he was obviously the best man for both jobs. In 1976, President Gerald Ford signed (without comment) a congressional law designating Washington posthumously as a six -star general. The legislator who presented the bill had the good intention of wanting to keep the Father of His Country permanently first among American generals. But the law was a bit silly. Washington's position was already secure. As one dissident congressman said, "This is like the pope making Christ a cardinal!"

-Father Robert F. McNamara

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Q439: If my talents are better than someone else, should I not seek higher honors?

The gospel today (Luke 14:1,7-14) is not about applying for ‘higher job positions’ that are open for those with certain talents. Instead, it is about the vice of self-promotion. This vice usually begins at the mirror and continues at times throughout the day, such as coffee break time at work, or phone gossip. It usually takes two forms: speaking negatively about someone else (implying that “I” am better), and exaggerating my own importance. Is it possible that many of the “back problems” that plague certain Americans stem from their own straining to pat themselves on the back all the time? We want others to know how good we are at something, or how well we did a special task.

In Jesus’ time, the individuals living in the Judean society and culture were in a constant struggle for more “personal honor,” but always at the expense of someone else. One example is reflected in today’s gospel. It shows people jockeying for the best places at a banquet – not so subtly, either, because it caught Jesus’ attention. By their own actions of “self-promotion” they were patting themselves on the back, in effect claiming they were “better” than those located farther down the feeding trough.

When Jesus comments on this banquet scenario, he is not giving a lesson in table manners. Notice that he tells a parable, meaning there is a specific point he is going to be making. In this case, he is contrasting the virtue of Humility with the vice of Pride. The lesson is about the great danger in presuming (and acting on that presumption) that we are “better” than someone else; the parable calls us to avoid the vice of self-promotion. The Book of Proverbs reminds us that pride precedes the disaster and the fall (16:18), and our First Reading from Sirach stresses the need for great humility (Sir 3:17-20,28-29). There is no need for self-promotion through tooting your own horn. If you are deserving of honors, your responsible actions will be noticed and given recognition as they deserve.

KNOW YOUR CATECHISM! “The exercise of humility towards our neighbor is not a reverence of that nature, but to the gifts of God within that nature” (Archbishop Ullathorne on Humility). Our actions that matter are those that are self-giving, rather than self-promoting. Pope John Paul II taught us that each of us needs to promote the dignity of every human being, especially the disadvantaged (CCC #1929, 1932); we are equal with our brothers and sisters in the eyes of God, not above them.

==== Q595: Why does Jesus think it is wrong to be honored at a festive occasion?

Being honored is not the issue in today’s gospel (Luke 14:1, 7-14). What is at issue is the inordinate desire to be honored, at the expense of others! Jesus is teaching some basic fundamentals about the responsibility of all people to reflect the image of God with which they were created.

To be made in the image of God means that our soul has three special elements: an Intellect that gives us the potential to think in spiritual ways; a Will that gives us the potential to choose the good; and third, the ability to live in relationships of chaste love – giving freely and unconditionally the love that God gave us, modeling the love within the Holy Trinity.

The guests at the Pharisee’s house in today’s gospel were jockeying for positions of honor; and in that honor-and-shame society, to take a seat at the table closer to the host meant that it was always at the expense of someone else. To make his point, Jesus tells everyone a parable about humility – seeking out the lower place, not the place of honor. Or if you are the host, not being selfish with invitations that are self-serving since they seek payback, but rather inviting those who will not be forced to return the favor. Those who cannot return the favor will at least be able to give what they have – thanksgiving, gratitude, and unconditional love freely given – the very dynamic of the life within the Holy Trinity.

There is indeed one higher position that the Lord wants us to take, by his invitation. Each one of us is asked to come to the table of the Eucharist, where every seat is equal in honor and equal in nearness to our host, Jesus, the Son of God!

KNOW YOUR CATECHISM! Being the image of God gives us dignity, and the capability of self-knowledge, self-possession, and of freely giving ourselves and entering into communion with God and with all other humans (CCC 357). The vocation of each one of us is to show forth this image of God and enrich each other out of real love (CCC 1877, 1937).

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