1st
Reading: Romans 11: 1-2, 11-12, 25-29
The paradoxical Status
of God's people, when they reject Him
I ask, then has God
rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of
Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people
whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah, how he
pleads with God against Israel?
So I ask, have they
stumbled so as to fall? By no means! But through their stumbling salvation has
come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel Jealous. Now if their stumbling
means riches for the World, and if their defeat means riches for Gentiles, how
much more will their full inclusion mean!
So that you may not
claim to be wiser than you are, brothers and sisters, I want you to understand this mystery: a hardening has come upon part
of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel
will be saved; as it written, " Out of Zion will come the Deliverer; he
will banish ungodliness from Jacob." " And this is my covenant with
them, when I take away their sins." As regards the gospel they are enemies of God for your sake; but as
regards election they are beloved, for the sake of their ancestors; for the
gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
Gospel:
Luke 14:1,7-11
Not choosing celebrity
or status
On one occasion when
Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the Sabbath,
they were watching him closely.
When he noticed how the
guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. " When you are
invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor,
in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and
the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ' Give this person
your place,' and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But
when your host comes, he may say to you,' Friend, move up higher;' then you
will be honored in the presence of all
who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled,
and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
MEDITATIONS
AND REFLECTIONS ON THE READINGS
In today's gospel,
Jesus observes how the scribes and Pharisees affect the highest seats, the head-end of table. Therefore, He takes
this occasion to challenge the guests striving
to sit at highest seat and then later on give them and us all a lesson
concerning the virtue of humility.
Dear brothers and sisters once we hear about humility what comes into our minds
first? what is all about? Let us borrow the mind of William Temple on the virtue of humility: He
says, " Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than other
people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts. It means
freedom from thinking about yourself one way or the other at all."
By asking your selves
the following questions, it is when will be clearly revealed whether you are
humble or proud:
1. What do you do when
somebody wrongs you, do you easily get angry? or do you take it in stride and
remain cool?
2. Do you seldom
forgive others? or do you remember being recently wronged, and immediately
forgiving them?
3.What do you do after
realizing that you have sinned, do you say that it's not really your fault? Or
do you say, " I have sinned; please forgive me."?
4.How often do you ask
God for favors in prayer, rarely? or do you find yourself occasionally asking
God for help?
5.Are you easily
annoyed by other people? Or do you enjoy the presence of other people and
interact easily with them?
6. Do you complain when
your children, parents or boss ask you
to do something above and beyond the call of duty? Or do you gladly accept God's
will for you?
7. When you experience
success or good fortune, do you boast about it? Or do you take success in
stride and remain cool?
Through the questions
above we can really understand where we are. We can understand we are too
wonderful, excellent, awesome, and perfect; that the greatest people are self
-made and self-reliant, needing nobody else, never needing to ask anybody for any favors, including God; that it is we
who define what is correct and absolute. We can understand from the questions
above concerning humility that it is we who presume that success is always due
to our own hard work, superior intelligence, brilliant imagination keen sense
of timing.
On the other hand
humility reminds us that we are sinners and that we are no better than anybody
else; that to err is human , to forgive is divine; to face the facts, admit our
sin and beg forgiveness; everything we have is from God, that even, our bodies
and talents are on loan from God; that everybody is different, that each person
has a unique role in God's plan, and is therefore given different tastes,
desires, abilities, and opportunities; that God is in charge. He knows what He
is doing and so we can trust Him completely; that when it rains or shines it
does so on both the just and the unjust. Success is always caused by many
factors, some of which we have no control over and good fortune is a pure grace
from God, undeserved and non- repayable.
The
path to choose
The final words in
today's gospel apply above all to Jesus' own life, " whoever humbles
himself will be exalted." Saint Paul tells how Jesus emptied himself,
taking the form of a servant, and then humbled himself, even unto death on a
cross- and, because of that, God " gave him a name above every other
name."Having humbled himself, he was exalted by God and becomes the source
of our salvation.
From the readings we
have learned a lesson that Jesus did not look for honor for himself, rather in
the service of others he was prepared to be dishonored, enduring the shame of crucifixion. Yet he received the only honor worth having, honor from God.
Therefore, in today's gospel, Jesus is calling on others to take the path that
he took, the path of humble service of others, leading to receiving honor from
God. Jesus' appeal to us all is not to look for recognition or celebrity,
rather the call to us all is to be humble and be ready to render our services
to our brothers and sisters in need.
Hakuna maoni:
Chapisha Maoni