HOMILY: 22nd Sunday C: 25.08.31
The Liturgical readings today on this twenty-second Sunday are about humility.
The reading from Sirach, our first lesson, in its simplicity and directness perhaps gives us the key to a life of humility. The text says: “What is too sublime for you, seek not… and an attentive ear is the wise person’s joy”.
This passage reminds us that we are not the source of our own being. As the creation of God, we receive life from one another. The ultimate questions, “What is too sublime” as the text says is, beyond our ability. We must freely acknowledge that there is wisdom that is more than we can control or even comprehend. There is something more than ourselves.
However great the mystery of the Incarnation, we are never on a par with God. Truth in prayer, worship and service of God is characterized by the realization that all we have comes from God. Our needs are the only contribution basic to our relation with God. Our deepest spiritual experience is to feel utterly dependent on God and want to submit ourselves totally to the Divine Will.
The truth is our being is incomplete without God. To seek God is a fundamental tendency of human nature. The often-heard quote of Saint Augustine is fundamental; “You have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in you”. There is a space in us that can be filled only by God.
Humility is not a Sado-masochism motivated by self-hatred or obsequiousness. Assertiveness and humility are not mutually exclusive. They both require that we be true to our dignity as an image of God. The strength of the spiritual endeavor is dependent on the presence of lofty desires that are beyond our capacities. We must acknowledge our powerlessness not in discouragement but in hope and the humility to accept God’s gifts. Humility is truth and truthful living is most aided by a realistic attitude to ourselves and to others. Humility joins us to the rest of the human race. It is pride that causes us to believe that we are not like others. Pride is the opposite. It denies every bond that links us with others. The second phrase form the first reading is about this reality, “the attentive ear is the wise man’s joy”. The person who can listen is the humble person. To listen means one is willing to learn; one is willing to receive from another; one can acknowledge a need; such a person is humble.
Humility never denies our abilities or gifts but acknowledges them as gifts and something held in trust for the whole human race. They are given to be shared. To deny our gifts is to deny others their benefits and to deny God in our life. Humility is truth and it not only acknowledges our gifts but it also impels us to use them. This does not mean that everything we do will be a success. It means we are always laboring that God’s kingdom be alive in our world.
This Gospel passage has been difficult to recognize as an expression of true humility. It seems just the opposite! Wanting to be singled out and choosing the lower place in order to be called to a higher place really is not humility in my judgement! What the text may be saying is that the truly humble person doesn’t choose a place so that he will be recognized. Rather the person who is humble in the real Gospel way doesn’t worry about where he sits or if he is invited to dinner with the significant people. The humble person has their identity in Christ. Nothing else matters and no one can take that identity from the person.
In this Eucharist we will share, we acknowledge that Christ is our life; we acknowledge that whatever we have is a gift from Christ; we acknowledge our need to use those gifts that Christ’s life will fill our whole world. True humility like any grace that we have grows only when it is given away.