He who humbles himself will be exalted
Reflection for 22nd Sunday of
Ordinary Time, August 28, 2016
By Rev. Bob Johnnene OFM
Mission Saints Sergius & Bacchus
Order Franciscans of Mercy
TV Shows link; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8elKccazfx4
Link to Mission Web Site: www.missionstsergius.org
Link to OFM web site: www.orderfranciscansofmercy.org
The first is the need for us to be
humble and acknowledge that we are far from perfect always needing to take
inventory of our successes and our failures.
The Gospel of Luke 14:1-14 tells the
story of Jesus eating at the house of one of the Pharisees and wathching how
people seated themselves. Christ then told these parapbles. “When someone invites you to a wedding feast,
do not take your seat in the place of honour. A more distinguished person than
you may have been invited, and the person who invited you both may come and
say, “Give up your place to this man.” And then, to your embarrassment, you
would have to go and take the lowest place. No; when you are a guest, make your
way to the lowest place and sit there, so that, when your host comes, he may
say, “My friend, move up higher.” In that way, everyone with you at the table will
see you honoured. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the man
who humbles himself will be exalted.
Then he said to his host, ‘When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not ask
your friends, brothers, relations or rich neighbours, for fear they repay your
courtesy by inviting you in return. No; when you have a party, invite the poor,
the crippled, the lame, the blind; that they cannot pay you back means that you
are fortunate, because repayment will be made to you when the virtuous rise again”.
The lesson Christ is trying to teach us is of humility.
This virtue seems to have become totally irrelevant especially
with the lies and untruths that our politicians spread in order to get elected
or that businesses tell in order to sell products and increase their bottom
line and the profits for their stockholders.
One of the most difficult things for us to do is admit
we are wrong and even more difficult for us is to ask for forgiveness when we
are wrong, especially when what we did hurt someone especially those closest to
us, like family and friends.
All too often when we do ask forgiveness the person
from whom we are seeking it is reluctant if not completely unwilling to be
forgiving. That, thankfully is not God’s
way, Our God is a merciful and compassionate God who is always ready to forgive
us for the times we failed to do what he expects of us.
That is why Pope Francis, the Bishop of Rome, declared
this year to be a Special Jubilee Year of Mercy, in order to point out God’s
unending and infinite mercy.
I have experienced the unwillingness of individuals to
forgive me in spite of my many attempts seeking forgiveness, the other person is not only unforgiving but
hostile to this day after 37 years.
Fortunately, Almighty God is a merciful God willing to
forgive us even of the most grievous of crimes committed against others but
also those sins against God himself.
In the first reading for this Sunday from Ecclesiasticus 3:19-21, 30-31we read the
following; “My son, be gentle in carrying out your
business, and you will be better loved than a lavish giver.The greater you are,
the more you should behave humbly, and then you will find favour with the Lord;
for great though the power of the Lord is, he accepts the homage of the humble.
There is no cure for the proud man’s malady, since an evil growth has taken
root in him.”
The way so many people today spend their time in poursuite
of pleasure, wealth, power and prestige even resorting to lies and innuendo in
order to achieve their goals, it seems to me that the powers of evil have taken
over the hearts and minds of far too many people.
Because one person has the gift of great knowledge
this does not make him any better than the person who has the gift of tilling
the fields and producing great harvests.
In the eyes of God all equal and deserve the same kind
of respect as kings, business moguls, world famous actors, athletes, Cardinals
or Popes.
Humility and equality are virtues that go together and
ones each of us need to strive constantly to develop within ourselves.
In an age where so many are seeking their fifteen
minutes of fame and try to extend that to a lifetime of acclaim, we need to
look closer at how we are building up recognition in the eyes of God.
Are we living our lives as God has asked us by caring
for those who are less fortunate than ourselves? Are we
sharing our gifts, both material and spiritual with others?
Do we have respect for God’s creation by doing our
part to keep the environment as livable as possible?
Every day we read and see the horrible situation of people
in drought torn countries, or those who lost everything in the wild fires that
raged through the West recently and the countries
that are embroiled in wars just to gain power, wealth and domination.
Here in the United states we have people who daily
struggle to eat a healthy meal or do not have a decent place to live or cannot
afford to obtain medical care or prescriptions because they do not earn enough
to live, while others go about driving luxury cars and paying $400 for a
haircut all the while finding every way to avoid paying their fair share of
taxes, one of the candidates for President even boasted about how he sought to
pay as little as possible, and most of these same people rarely give the 10% or
tithe back to God that scripture calls us to do.
They seem to have become like the scribes and
pharasies spoken about in Matthew 23:23: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you
have left undone the weightier matters of the law, justice, and mercy, and
faith have been left undone”.
We spend Trillions on weapons of destruction but we
cannot afford to care for the poor properly and insure that every child
receives the highest quality education.
It seems to me that many have our priorities greatly confused;
they can afford a $4.00 or more cappuccino but cannot put even a dollar in the
offertory collection.
God has been very good to the United States and given
us many gifts, decent honorable men and women built a nation on the principals
of freedom, democracy, justice and as the Declaration of Independence declares; “We hold these truths to be
self-evident that ALL PEOPLE are created equal, that they ARE ENDOWED BY THEIR
CREATOR with certain unalienable rights, that among them are LIFE, LIBERTY AND
THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS”)
We, who claim to be
followers of Jesus Christ, need to work
harder to insure that every man, woman and child in this country is guaranteed
the same rights and privileges as those whom God has blessed with a bounty of
wealth so they easily afford the quality education, health care and housing and
all the luxuries that this nation has.
We need to emulate the tax
collector and ask God for forgiveness for failing to be mindful of the needs of
others and having our priorities misplaced from the teaching of Jesus Christ.
We need to respect other
nationalities customs and way of life and not force our way on them.
We need to appreciate the
diversity that God has created rejoicing that not everything and everyone is
identical.
God created everyone with
differing gifts and we should be thankful for those gifts God has given us and
share them wisely with others.
I share my thoughts on
this week’s readings with you and suggest you reflect upon these readings
during this coming week.
I hope that you will look,
as I have within myself, attempting to discern how I can better use the gifts
God has bestowed upon me better in the service toward others.
May Almighty God send the
Holy Spirit down on us as assisting us in our discernment of the Gifts he has
given us guiding us too become exalted in His eyes every day of our lives.
I close by asking your
prayers for this ministry as I struggle to meet the financial responsibilities
of the ministry and continue the work I do.
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