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Homily for the twenty-second
Sunday in the year - Year C - Lk. 14:1.7-14
by
Canon Dr. Daniel Meynen
" One sabbath when Jesus
went to dine at the house of a ruler who belonged to the Pharisees,
they were watching him. Now he told a parable to those who were
invited, when he marked how they chose the places of honor, saying to
them, «When you are invited by any one to a marriage feast, do
not sit down in a place of honor, lest a more eminent man than you be
invited by him; and he who invited you both will come and say to you,
`Give place to this man,' and then you will begin with shame to take
the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest
place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, `Friend, go up
higher'; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at
table with you. For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, and
he who humbles himself will be exalted.»
" He said also to the man
who had invited him, «When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not
invite your friends or your brothers or your kinsmen or rich neighbors,
lest they also invite you in return, and you be repaid. But when you
give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you
will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at
the resurrection of the just.» "
Homily:
" One sabbath when Jesus
went to dine at the house of a ruler who belonged to the Pharisees,
they were watching him. Now he told a parable to those who were
invited, when he marked how they chose the places of honor, saying to
them, «When you are invited by any one to a marriage feast, do
not sit down in a place of honor, lest a more eminent man than you be
invited by him; and he who invited you both will come and say to you,
`Give place to this man,' and then you will begin with shame to take
the lowest place.» "
Jesus is invited to a
dinner! As usual, the guests, certainly friends and acquaintances of
this Pharisee about whom Saint Luke speaks, observe Jesus: they want to
see what he is going to do, especially on this Sabbath day! Will he
break the law of the Sabbath? Will Jesus once again heal someone on
this day of rest? Definitely! The passage from Saint Luke, which isn't
included in today's gospel but which does belong to Luke's account of
this dinner, tells us this clearly. "Behold, there was a man before him
who had dropsy. And Jesus spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying,
«Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath, or not?» But they
were silent. Then he took him and healed him, and let him go." (Lk.
14:3-4)
Jesus is God and he is the
Master of the Sabbath! For God alone can provide us with true rest,
that which benefits both the soul and the body. Now, we know, because
it is a part of our faith, that it is only at the end of our life that
we shall receive from the Lord - according to his grace and our merits
- eternal rest, a joy without end and without limit, as much for our
soul as for our body. It is at the moment of our resurrection in Christ
that God will appear to us truly as he who provides us with the rest we
want so much. It is that moment which will be the eternal moment of the
marriage feast to which we will be invited, it is then that the feast
about which Jesus speaks to us in today's gospel will be a reality!
What must we do in order to
deserve a high place - the highest! - at this feast of the king, at
this marriage feast of the Lamb (cf. Rev. 19:9)? The message of Jesus
is clear: he who wants the highest place has to not want it, but
instead he must want the lowest place, that which no one covets on
earth! Yes! The logic of Heaven is a logic which is in opposition to
the logic of the world: he who wants the first place in Heaven must
seek the last! "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like
children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles
himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."
(Mt. 18:3-4)
" «But when you are
invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes
he may say to you, `Friend, go up higher'; then you will be honored in
the presence of all who sit at table with you. For every one who exalts
himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be
exalted.» "
Don't be mistaken: the
place of honor is already taken! It is Mary, the Mother of Jesus, who
obtained it through her unequaled humility! Mary obtained the place of
honor because she humbled herself in her act of faith upon hearing the
Angel's words: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of
the Most High will overshadow you." (Lk. 1:35) Mary believed and she
said: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according
to your word." (Lk. 1:38) Yes, Mary humbled herself, because she
renounced, not in her body but rather in her spirit, the virginity
which she had vowed to preserve and which united her to the Lord in a
way that is without equal. But, due to her humility, the renouncement
of Mary was no renouncement at all: on the contrary, this renouncement
was transformed into the most perfect consecration that ever was!
Mary humbled herself before
God, and also before men - first and foremost before Saint Joseph her
spouse (cf. Mt. 1:19). In this way, Mary became the first of all the
believers in Christ: she became the Mother of God, conceiving within
herself he who would proclaim himself "the Bread of God" (Jn. 6:33).
Through her self-abasement, Mary was the first to enter the marriage
feast in which Jesus is not only the host, but also the food: "Behold,
I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the
door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me." (Rev.
3:20)
On this day, we too are
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb! Let us prepare our hearts to
receive the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords! Like Mary, let us
proclaim our faith in the living God, let us recognize our smallness
before the Almighty Lord! Let us ask the Holy Spirit to produce great
things in us!
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