From Sunday Readings: Liturgical Years 2011 (A), 2012 (B), and 2013 (C)
22nd Sunday of the Year (C), September 1, 2013 (Edited for August 31, 2025)
Liturgical readings
Ecclesiasticus 3:17-18, 20, 28-29
Psalm 68
Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24
Luke 14:1, 7-14
"Humility will win you the esteem of your fellow guests."
When Jesus came on a sabbath
to eat a meal
in the house
of one of the leading Pharisees,
they observed him closely,
He went on to address a parable
to the guests,
noticing how they were trying
to get places of honor
at the table:
"When you are invited
by someone to a wedding party,
do not sit in the place of honor
in case some greater dignitary
has been invited.
Then the host might come
and say to you,
'Make room for this man',
and you would have to proceed
shamefacedly to the lowest place.
What you should do
when you have been invited
is
go and sit in the lowest place,
so that
when your host approaches you
he will say,
'My friend,
come up higher.'
This will win you
the esteem of your fellow guests.
For everyone
who exalts himself
shall be humbled
and
he
who humbles himself
shall be exalted."
He said to the one who invited him:
Whenever you give a lunch or dinner,
do not invite your friends
or brothers
or relatives
or wealthy neighbors.
They might invite you in return
and thus repay you.
No,
when you have a reception,
invite beggars
and the crippled,
the lame
and the blind.
You should be pleased
that they cannot repay you,
for you will be repaid
in the resurrection of the just."
Scripture verses from the Readings:
"An attentive ear is the wise man's joy." (Ecclesiasticus 3)
"What is to sublime for you, seek not, into things beyond your strength, search not." (Ecclesiasticus 3)
"God is the father of orphans and the defender of widows." (Psalm 68)
"You have drawn near to Mount Zion and the city of the living God." (Hebrews 12)
"Be pleased that the poor cannot repay you, for you will be repaid in the resurrection of the just." (Luke 14)
Reflection
The gospel for the 22nd Sunday of the Year (C) speaks about the theme of humility, and Jesus took occasion to teach about the virtue when He was invited to a meal. Humility ought to be practiced as a social virtue whenever invited to feasts or dinner. When the gospel described the guests competing for the seats of honor, Jesus told a parable, teaching the importance of seeking not a place of honor but to let the host decide where one ought to be seated. He also challenged His Pharisee-host to invite to the banquet people who cannot repay him: the beggars and the crippled, the lame and the blind.
Humility is one of the Christian virtues that is very difficult to practice - given the heroic example presented by our Lord in His life and teachings. The virtue will be easier if it is part of a disciplined way of work and life. Self-awareness in prayer helps remedy whatever traces of pride one has in the soul. As long as the soul never gives up, then the the grace to be humble needed for daily and practical living can be received. It is a state of mind and heart that is detached from relationships or things that make us proud.
Jesus is the perfect example of humility in being and action. Though He is divine, He lived and worked as a carpenter's Son. He has divine power, but He used it for the poor, the sick and the marginalized. He is the Beloved Son of the Father, but He obediently took His cross and suffered greatly for our salvation. And even when He was vindicated by His Father in the Resurrection event, which proved His victory over sin and death that afflicts all humanity, He quietly and simply made His Risen appearances only to His apostles and disciples.
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