Shikrot Mpwi - Sunday Synopsis with Fr. Justine J. Dyikuk

Twenty Second Sunday of Year, C – September 1, 2019.

Readings: Sirach 3:17-20.28-29; Responsorial Psalm Ps 68:4-5ac.6-7ab. 10-11(R.11b); Heb. 12:18-19. 22-24a; Gospel Luke 14:1.7-14.

Theme: Pride Goes Before A Fall

Introduction

Beloved in Christ, since the devil deceived our first parents, Adam and Eve, he has not stopped his deceptive pranks. Perhaps this is why we are living in a world where the devil is constantly deceiving God’s children to be arrogant. We cannot forget how angels wanted to be like God and ended up badly. This is why this homily titled “Pride Goes Before A Fall” aims at urging us to fight the devil head-on by embracing the call to humility and simplicity of life. Before attempting that, we shall explore the background and summary of the readings in order to derive some practical lessons.   

                                                    
Background and Summary of the Readings

The first reading (Sirach 3:17-20.28-29) reveals that gentility and humility are prerequisites for finding favour in the sight of God. It notes that although God is great, the prayer of the humble could bring him down to the level of the lowly. The reading further discloses that “there is no cure for the proud man’s malady, since an evil growth has taken root in him.” It surmises that “the heart of a sensible man will reflect on parables, an attentive ear is the sage’s dream.”

The second reading (Heb. 12:18-19. 22-24a) discloses the glory of the beatific vision, the heavenly Jerusalem. It reveals that the festival of heaven would be populated by millions of angels with the whole Church in which everyone is a “first-born” son and a citizen of heaven. It presents God as the supreme judge who is in the midst of the spirits of the saints who have been made perfect through the blood of purification which pleads more insistently than Abel’s. 

The gospel reading (Luke 14:1.7-14) narrates how on a certain Sabbath Jesus went to a house of a leading Pharisee for a meal and watched people taking places of honour. This made him to catechise his audience using a parable. He emphasized that if someone invites you for a wedding feast, do not take the place of honour because a more dignified person may have been invited and the person who invited the two of you might ask you to give up your place for this man; and to your embarrassment, you would have to take the lowest place. Instead, Jesus advised that you should take the lowest place so that later, you could be promoted to a higher place. He maintained that “for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and the man who humbles himself will be exalted.”

He goes ahead to advise that when you give a lunch, do not invite your friends, relations or rich neighbours because they can pay you in return by inviting you for theirs. Instead, he advised that you should invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind because they cannot repay you. Just so, you will be rewarded by your father in heaven.      

Pastoral Lessons

1. Embrace Humility: Our liturgy calls us to shun what St. Thomas Aquinas describes in his Summa Theologica as the cause of sin which is the pride of life. Pride of life is anything that is “of the world,” which leads to arrogance, ostentation, pride itself (1 John 2:16), presumption, and boasting. The bible says:  “The greater you are, the more you must humble yourself…” (Sir 3:18). Little wonder, Jesus warns about taking places of honour.

2. Always Put Others Ahead of You: Jesus’ call that we should take the lowest places means that we should always put others ahead of us. In this way, we could be promoted by God to higher places.]

3. Work for an Inclusive Society: Our liturgy calls to embrace the gospel of social-inclusion and humility where race, gender, religion, political persuasion and social status are knocked down by our common-humanity and shared-interests.  

4. Be Your Brother’s Keeper: Jesus insists that we should be brother’s keeper. This means that we should be more concerned about the plight of the vulnerable especially orphans and widows. 

5. Work for the Common-Good: Jesus wants us to pay particular attention to justice and equitable distribution of resources. Only then can we be said to have built a world where justice and peace flow. 

6. Seek Heavenly Reward: We are invited to look beyond immediate reward by working towards the great festival in heaven where millions of angels with the whole Church in which everyone is a “first-born” son and a citizen of heaven are gathered.