Sunday Reflections

This Sunday’s readings focus on a virtue that is often misunderstood in the western world, humility.  How we view our own importance as opposed to God’s importance.  Often being humble is viewed as a weakness, due to a misguided focus on self.  With a focus on self, we experience false humility.  Doing something we are not proud of results in shame and self-hatred.  These two descriptors have a very negative connotation.  And unfortunately, with a focus on self, this behaviour ends with a low view of our importance.

But with a focus on an all-loving God we can live in true humility, looking to God, who created us in His own likeness and image. So, with this focus on God we continually strive to imitate Him, while knowing full-well our human limitations.  With shame and self-hatred, we can easily give-up on ourselves, whereas recognition of our human limitations gives us something to continually strive for, being God like, being an all-loving person.  Regardless of what we do, we know with God’s help we can do better. 

And we are okay with that, we know we will be “loved more than a giver of gifts” and “you will find favor in God” as proclaimed in today’s first reading.

Today’s gospel provides a parable offering even more clarity to us living with humility.  By being truly humble, we should be grateful just to be asked to the wedding, sitting wherever the host directs us to.  This is contrary to bringing a focus on self to the wedding, where we look for a place of honor to sit, risking the embarrassment of having the host say to us, “Give up your place to this man”.  And further when we host a lunch or dinner, our guests should include those we wish to honor, not those we are looking for repayment from.  Again, our focus is on our love for others and not on a love for self.