On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the
home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him
carefully.
He told a parable to those who had been
invited, noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table.
“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table
in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been
invited by him, and the host who invited both of you may approach you and
say, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then you would proceed with
embarrassment to take the lowest place.
Rather, when you are invited, go and
take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say, ‘My
friend, move up to a higher position.’ Then you will enjoy the esteem of your
companions at the table. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but
the one who humbles himself will be exalted.
Then
he said to the host who invited him, "When you hold a lunch or a dinner,
do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy
neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather,
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."
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Reflection:
What can humility do to your life? Among
many other things humility can give you peace and contentment. With humility
you can also have many friends and you would get their silent admiration.
Many of us are afraid to imbibe and live
humility because we are afraid that we would be dominated. But humility doesn’t
work that way, humility is to think less of ourselves and not think of
ourselves as somebody who is superior than anyone else.
For example if the situation calls for us
to say yes and follow lawful orders by all means we have to say yes and follow.
Thus, we have to do the task that is given to us with utmost competence.
We give it our all until we are able to achieve what is expected of us
and then we simply fade away from the limelight. There is always a reward that
accompanies humility and that is honor and exaltation not from our fellow human
beings but from God.
In the gospel Jesus tells us about the
parable of the wedding banquet. The Lord tells us that when we get invited we
have to seat first at the lowest place no matter who we are and let the host
have a free hand to bring us to the place which we deserve.
Why is the Lord very particular about
humility? The reason behind is it’s only through our humility that the Lord
could pour out His unfathomable blessings upon us. – Marino J. Dasmarinas