Pastor's Message

 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Friend, go up higher, … as he who humbles himself will be exalted! .”   Luke 14:10

“My Child conduct your affairs in Humility, and you will be loved more than a giver of Gifts. Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with God.”

These Words from the Book of Sirach are based on a wisdom of a loving Father, calling his Son or daughter to a transformation! He exalts an attitude of meekness in dealing, not only with fellow human beings but also with God.

In our response with Responsorial Psalm, we acknowledge our dependence on God’s providential care; “In your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy … Father of orphans and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.”

This is an honest and truthful realization that all human beings, no matter their circumstance in life, are always in the concern of God our Father. Aware of God’s Presence among us, we are to approach his throne with humility, knowing our place as the created.

Jesus, in the Gospel, calls us too to practice meekness, in our everyday life; It’s the wisdom, so that we can experience the joy of being uplifted; “Friend, go up higher, … as he who humbles himself will be exalted!”

Jesus is depicted as the teacher in the traditional wisdom in Israel. His teaching about inviting the poor who cannot pay back echoes the wisdom of Sirach in the first Reading; “When you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

We belong to the Kingdom of God. A Kingdom governed by the wisdom of “absolute meekness,” of One who did not count equality with God as something to be boasted about. And in his generous self-giving love was humbler yet, up to accepting death on the Cross. This is with the sole purpose of enabling us to have fullness of Life.

Jesus calls us to an unbiased generosity, a generosity he, himself already lived.

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