Twenty-second Sunday of Ordinary Time (C) [Lk 14:1.7-14]
28.08.2022
Humility and Hospitality towards the Poor
1.
Theme in brief
Humility of
heart and disinterested service
2.
Focus Statement
God’s invitation to the ‘banquet’ of his Kingdom
should be responded with humility of heart and a motive to serve the poor and
the marginalized without hankering for any reward or repayment from their side.
3. Explanation of
the text
According to today’s gospel passage, when a leader of the Pharisees hosted a dinner party for Jesus on a Sabbath day, people were watching him closely whether he would take the first place of honour as was the custom of eminent persons in their society (14:1). If he did, they would get a point to belittle him. In their minds Jesus was already a sort of ‘celebrity’ because of the miracles he performed. Hence, he would take the front seat. But Jesus too was observing closely how the invited guests were vying for places of honour among themselves (14:7). They thought if they could get the best seats nearer to the host they could show off their superior status.
Jesus used his observation to tell them a parable
(14:8-10) about the right conduct of those who are invited by God through him
to another ‘banquet,’ that is, the banquet of the
Further, Jesus tells his
host (leader of the Pharisees), when he hosts a banquet, not to invite four
groups of people, namely “friends, brothers, relatives and rich neighbours,”
whose company he will enjoy the most (14:12). Instead, he should invite the other four types
of people, namely “the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind,” whose
company he will not enjoy (14:13). The reason is obvious: the first category of
people may return
the favour done to them because they have the resources to do that, whereas the poor
and the differently-abled persons are totally incapable to repay any service or act of charity
done to them (14:14). Therefore, it should be done with the supernatural motive
of love for such people without expecting anything in return. Jesus’ idea of radical inclusion
goes against social expectations of repayment of honours and favours done to others.
He wants that this social norm should not govern life in his new society called
the
Hence, ‘the righteous’ who will be aptly rewarded are those who share their food and goods with the socially disadvantaged and the disabled by inviting them for table-fellowship. This reward is hinted earlier also in this parable, where the Host (God) takes the initiative to invite the one who sits at the lowest place (one who is humble) with the words: “Friend, move up higher” (14:10). It is God who lifts up the lowly by honouring, exalting and rewarding the humble of heart (14:11). Mary’s Song of Praise called ‘Magnificat’ also echoes this nature of God: He humbles and scatters the proud and brings down the powerful from their throne and lifts up the lowly (cf.1:51-52).
4.
Application to life
Today’s gospel is a good antidote to all forms of pride and self-glory that is in our human nature. It
also goes quite contrary to “higher-middle-lower class or caste” mentality in
our society. Through this teaching Jesus calls on us to act contrary to the "payback" mentality prevalent in the
world – that is, doing good and showing generosity only towards those who are
able to return the same favour to us. Our human society quite often rewards the
‘haves’ with name, fame, honour and favours, whereas the ‘have-nots’ are further deprived. It is also a
common practice to give great honour
to the most eminent and distinguished
guests in social functions and banquets. Normally ordinary people are ignored on
these occasions. Seating arrangements are also made according to higher and
lower status. There are also persons
who demand such honour and preferential
treatment from others. Today’s gospel
reminds religious leaders, if ever or whenever they do this, there are people who
watch them closely, just as they watched Jesus closely (14:1). All church
leaders should be aware that they live in a sort of ‘glass houses’ and all eyes
are on them because of their position.
In today’s gospel Jesus tells us to go counter to the prevailing
culture in our society by putting the last ones first, and live our life of
discipleship with a difference,
instead of blindly copying the ways of the world. Thus, he invites
us to build up counter-cultural
communities that go against the normal social pattern by giving the marginalized people also
first place. The joy of living in this type of communities is the joy of the
Thus, Jesus advocates humility as a characteristic mark of God’s
Kingdom. What is humility? Humility is an attitude of the mind because of which
we admit that we
are all sinners or forgiven sinners; admit our human limitations and weakness before God and
others; rely not on our strength alone,
but on God’s; and recognize that we are continually in need of his mercy and
forgiveness. Humility is nothing but an awareness that all that we are and all
that we have is God’s gift.
Our gifts are not meant for self-glorification and sidetracking the poor and the powerless but are to be used for their service also besides our own welfare. Humility is an attempt to see ourselves as God sees us. It is a realization that spiritually we too belong to the four categories mentioned by Jesus in today’s gospel: poor, crippled, lame and blind (14:13). We need to realize how poor we are spiritually (if not materially), how crippled and lame we are to walk on God’s ways unless helped by him, and how blind we are unless the he gives us the light of faith. St. Paul speaks about the striking example of humility set by Jesus in six steps when he became a human person (Phil 2:7-8): (1) He emptied himself; (2) took the form of a slave; (3) was born in human likeness; (4) was found human in appearance; (5) humbled himself; and (6) became obedient to death, even death on a cross.
Humility advocated by Jesus is a virtue that has social overtones. He advocates a form of humility which should lead us to reach out to the needy, the disadvantaged, the powerless and the marginalized people of our society with works of mercy. We need a great deal of humility to serve the lowliest, the poor, the outcasts and the least of our brothers and sisters freely without expecting anything in return, let alone looking for any reward. Our humility should lead us to associate with those whom our society considers low class/ low caste or outcast people and give them honour and dignity instead of honouring only the distinguished people and the dignitaries. He tells us to honour and give preference to those whom our society tends to ignore or disregard. If God goes out in reaching to the least ones through Jesus, his disciples too must reach out to such people without seeking any special honour for themselves.
In order to promote God’s Kingdom on earth, Jesus asks us to renounce any kind of self-reliance and pride and be willing to take the lowest or last place, i.e. to be humble. Symptoms of pride in humans are: arrogance, self-importance, aggressiveness, self-righteousness, domination, ostentation (showy or pompous behaviour) and assertion at the expense of others. Think of the competition among neighbours and relatives to show-off by throwing costliest parties or dinner for the birthday, First Holy Communion and wedding of their children! Think of the amount of food wasted during some of those parties/celebrations when so many poor people go hungry! An arrogant person thinks: “What I say is the right thing; all must agree.” We come across some leaders both in secular and religious/ spiritual fields who become ‘unteachable’ because they think they know everything or have heard this before. A proud person’s behaviour and attitude give the following impression: “Glory to God in the highest heaven and glory to me here on earth!” While singing ‘Gloria’ during the Holy Mass such a person says, “You alone are the Lord,” but later in behaviour and action that person shows, “I alone am the Lord!” We have to be constantly on our guard and wage a war against these aspects of our ‘animal instinct’.
The modern world considers humility as foolishness – accepting defeat, giving up the fight, running away from confrontation, allowing the opponents to have an upper hand, etc. On the contrary, it tells us to prove that we are worth something or we are also not less than anybody else. In a world of cut-throat competition, aggressive marketing and self-assertion, Jesus’ teaching on humble service for non-influential and marginalized people also seems to be equally foolish if it is not done with a supernatural motive. The poor in our neighbourhood or area are not in a position to repay many of the services which we render in our personal capacity (as a charitable deed) or through social work projects. We need to examine ourselves whether our service to the poor has ulterior motives such as collecting money or getting a social work project passed in the name of the poor only to misappropriate the funds for ourselves, or to gain a name, fame, honour, prestige and reward for ourselves.
Since we cannot repay the goodness of the Lord towards us, we also should not expect the poor people to repay us when we invite them to “taste the banquet of love.” Jesus wants us to serve the poor without any hope of reward and leave the recompense to God. The Master will come and tell us to move up higher (14:10) when ‘award giving ceremony’ comes at the “resurrection of the righteous” (14:14). Jesus’ calling those who invite the underprivileged “blessed” (14:14) sounds almost like an additional beatitude to the ones given in Mt 5:3-10: “Blessed are those who serve the poor and the socially disadvantaged without expecting anything in return, for they shall get their reward at the resurrection of the righteous.”
5.
Response to God's Word
Are there symptoms of arrogance, self-importance, domination, ostentation (showiness or pomp) and self-assertion at the cost of others in us? Do we think humility is not possible in modern competitive and aggressive society and just dismiss this idea? Are we victims of showy and ostentatious or grandiose behaviour during social gatherings? Were there moments in our life (especially in the life of those who are called to assume leadership roles in the Church and society) when we felt offended, hurt, slighted and sidetracked because we were not given a prominent place, not offered a front seat, or our name was not mentioned…. How did we react to those situations? Do we consider our service/charity to the poor is our way of repaying the Lord’s goodness and kindness to us? Is there a hidden agenda in our social work projects that result in misappropriation of funds?
6.
A Prayer
Jesus, you emptied yourself by taking the form of a
slave and humbled yourself to the point of death on a cross. We humbly admit how poor we are spiritually, how
lame and crippled we are to walk on God’s ways, and how blind we are unless you
gives us the light of faith. We repent for the times we were arrogant, aggressive,
showy, and assertive at the expense of others. Give us the generosity to render
service to the lowliest, the poor and the least of our brothers and sisters
freely without expecting anything in return. You alone are our greatest reward.
Amen.
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