Greetings!

In the ancient world, the sin of hubris, or excessive pride, was considered equivalent to self-deification. In Aeschylus' play, Agamemnon, Clytemnestra goads her husband, King Agamemnon, newly returned from his victory in Troy, into walking on purple carpets, thus sealing his fate. Purple, you see, was reserved only for the gods, and though the king knew he was committing sacrilege, he nevertheless took those fateful steps...

The theme of humility runs through this Sunday's readings. Sirach stresses that humility is pleasing to God, while the reading from Hebrews emphasizes the transcendence of God; then the Gospel focuses on avoiding exalting oneself.

To clarify, humility is not self-abasement or withholding one's gifts and talents, or refusing to voice an opinion; rather, it involves acknowledging God as the source of all that we are, all that we have, and all that we have accomplished. At the same time, being humble goes beyond praise, worship, and gratitude; it means that no matter how important a role we play in life, we see ourselves as part of humanity, not over and above other people, regardless of their age, health, socio-economic status, legal status, educational background, nationality, race, gender, sexual orientation, or religion.

Like Jesus, we are called to Servant Leadership, not to self-aggrandizement, golden thrones, or purple carpets. Our baptismal mandate is to love, serve, and respect our brothers and sisters, no matter how different they may be from ourselves. Just as Jesus' supreme exaltation was on the Cross, so our greatest glory is to raise up those who are bowed down, welcome those who have been excluded, and empower those who are voiceless....

Many Blessings!

Elizabeth

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LINK TO SCRIPTURE READINGS

One sabbath, Jesus went to dine at the home of a leading Pharisee, and the people there observed him carefully. Noticing how the guests were choosing the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable:

"When you are invited to a wedding banquet,

do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited,

and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, 'Give your place to this man.'

Then, humiliated, you would proceed to take the lowest place. Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes, he may say,

'My friend, move up to a higher position.'

Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled,

but those who humble themselves will be exalted."

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Whenever I notice that certain lines have been omitted from one of the Sunday readings, I immediately check my Bible to see what is missing. In some cases, the omissions seem justified, either because the missing verses detract from the central theme or because the passage would be too long if they were included. At other times, as in the omission of Lk 14:2-6 in today's Gospel, I have to wonder who was wielding the delete pen. One could argue that this Sunday's Gospel is "tighter" without these five verses, and that omitting them heightens the theme of humility while shortening the text; on the other hand, the healing of the man with dropsy serves an important role in the chapter.

Lk 14 begins with drama, a possible setup. It is the sabbath, and Jesus is the invited guest at the home of one of the leading Pharisees. Surrounded by Pharisees and scholars of the law-- in other words, members of the very groups whose hypocrisy he has repeatedly denounced-- he notices that they are observing him carefully, as if waiting to catch him in some violation of the Law or a heresy. Luke does not explain how a man painfully bloated by dropsy has come to be in the Pharisee's house, but since Jesus "dismisses" him after healing him, it is unlikely he is a guest. In fact, I rather suspect one of Jesus' adversaries dragged him in off the streets to see whether Jesus would break the sabbath by working a miracle. Reading their minds, Jesus asks them outright, "Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?" (Lk 14:3). They can neither answer this question nor his subsequent question, "Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?" (Lk 14:5). This passage, then, provides the context for Jesus' subsequent teachings on humility.

Having silenced his opponents, Jesus continues to make them squirm. While the other guests had been observing him, he was observing them, noting how they were vying for places of honor. Now, using the metaphor of a wedding banquet, he casually instructs them on the wisdom of being humble. Then he turns to his host, basically critiquing his guest list. Instead of inviting friends, relatives, and wealthy neighbors who can repay him for his generosity, this host needs to include "the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind" -- in other words, people like the man with dropsy who would never have dreamed of being invited to the feast.

When the healing of the man with dropsy is included in the Gospel, we discover the context of Jesus' teachings and witness him turning the tables on those who were determined to trap him. Then, with his Parable of the Great Feast ( Lk 14:15-24), Jesus goes beyond commenting on social norms and extends his teachings to the Kingdom of God: the invited guests make excuses and fail to show up, losing their places at the Great Feast; as a result, "the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind," along with people from the highways and byways, will take their places instead. In effect, Jesus informs the other guests and his host that they have forfeited their right to the heavenly banquet. Since Luke has nothing more to say about Jesus' visit to the Pharisee's house, we can only assume that he makes his exit at this point, having punctured the egos of all those in attendance and given them more than they bargained for...

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