Twenty-second Sunday of Ordinary Time
Remembrance of the martyrdom of John the Baptist, precursor of the Lord.
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Homily
The mind of the intelligent appreciates proverbs, notes the book of Sirach (3:29). That is what we want to do this Sunday, after having listened to the two parables told by Jesus. They are proposed to us in a liturgy that sees many people returning to the ordinary rhythm of life after vacation. It is always wise to meditate on parables, but especially when resuming life’s journey: Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path, sings psalm 119 (v. 105). The Gospel tells us how Jesus was invited to dinner at the house of one of the leading Pharisees. Once there, he observes the guests rushing for the best seats. It is perhaps a familiar scene for us, even if we have not foolishly participated in it ourselves because of shyness or a good upbringing. But in truth we are not so distant from the attitude stigmatised in today’s Gospel. And Jesus, who can see into the depths of the heart, can perhaps see us running for the best seats today just like the guests we hear about in the Gospel. But it is not a question of us looking for the most comfortable seat or a place in the first row. We can choose the best seat even when we sit in the last row or the worst seat. The choice of the best seat has more to do with the heart than it does with chairs. Choosing the best seat means putting ourselves before everything; it means wanting to turn everything to our liking, insisting on being served rather than serving, being honoured rather than available, and being loved before loving. Choosing the best seat means putting ourselves before everything else. It is clearly not a question of chairs, but of lifestyle.
Jesus stigmatises this behaviour. It does no good - in fact it is harmful - because it makes us into competitors and enemies and condemns us to a life of recrimination, pushing, jealousy, and abuse. It is not a question of etiquette or good manners. Jesus goes beyond all that: he is aiming at the very way people see themselves. The lesson is clear: whoever believes he or she is just and thinks that he or she stands head and shoulders above everyone else and so deserves the best seat will be told, "Give this person your place" (v. 9) and will have to walk to the back in shame. It is better to be ashamed of our pride and our self-indulgence before we take the best seat. It is better to stand before God ashamed of our sin - without becoming depressed - because "only God is good." The holy liturgy suggests this attitude to us when it has us say "Lord have mercy" three times at the beginning of the service. And then the Lord comes to us and encourages us, "Friend, move up higher"; "Friend, come, listen to my word, taste my bread, and drink my cup." Yes! Whoever humbles him or herself and asks for forgiveness - whoever bows his or her head in front of the Lord - will be exalted. The Lord cannot stand the proud and he does not tolerate the selfish, but "He is the Father of the humble."
My child we read in the book of Sirach, perform your tasks with humility; then you will be loved by those whom God accepts. The greater you are, the more you must humble yourself; so you will find favour in the sight of the Lord; ... for by the humble he is glorified. (Sir 3:17-20) The First Letter of Peter encourages Christians: All of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble’ (5:5). Humility has nothing to do with false modesty. Humility means recognizing that only God is great, only God is good, and only God is merciful. No one is good by character or nature. Quite the contrary - selfishness is kneaded into our very being. Goodness is the fruit of conversion, listening to the word of God, and practicing charity.
The humble person understands and knows how to love, how to be a brother or a sister, how to be human, and how to move the highest mountains and fill the deepest abysses. The humble person makes real the other parable we hear in today’s Gospel, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers...in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But...invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you" (14:12-13). In a world in which everything is commercialised and in which do ut des - I give so that you give back - is the ironclad rule of everyone’s behaviour, Jesus’ words are truly good news, the proclamation of a spirit of free giving and of deeds done for love and not self-interest. His words give birth to a new and deeper solidarity. What will we his humble disciples do this year? What undertaking will we try to carry out? The task entrusted to us is to set the table and serve at the banquet of love and to love everyone, especially the poorest.
Prayer is the heart of the life of the Community of Sant'Egidio and is its absolute priority. At the end of the day, every the Community of Sant'Egidio, large or small, gathers around the Lord to listen to his Word. The Word of God and the prayer are, in fact, the very basis of the whole life of the Community. The disciples cannot do other than remain at the feet of Jesus, as did Mary of Bethany, to receive his love and learn his ways (Phil. 2:5).
So every evening, when the Community returns to the feet of the Lord, it repeats the words of the anonymous disciple: " Lord, teach us how to pray". Jesus, Master of prayer, continues to answer: "When you pray, say: Abba, Father". It is not a simple exhortation, it is much more. With these words Jesus lets the disciples participate in his own relationship with the Father. Therefore in prayer, the fact of being children of the Father who is in heaven, comes before the words we may say. So praying is above all a way of being! That is to say we are children who turn with faith to the Father, certain that they will be heard.
Jesus teaches us to call God "Our Father". And not simply "Father" or "My Father". Disciples, even when they pray on their own, are never isolated nor they are orphans; they are always members of the Lord's family.
In praying together, beside the mystery of being children of God, there is also the mystery of brotherhood, as the Father of the Church said: "You cannot have God as father without having the church as mother". When praying together, the Holy Spirit assembles the disciples in the upper room together with Mary, the Lord's mother, so that they may direct their gaze towards the Lord's face and learn from Him the secret of his Heart.
The Communities of Sant'Egidio all over the world gather in the various places of prayer and lay before the Lord the hopes and the sufferings of the tired, exhausted crowds of which the Gospel speaks ( Mat. 9: 3-7 ), In these ancient crowds we can see the huge masses of the modern cities, the millions of refugees who continue to flee their countries, the poor, relegated to the very fringe of life and all those who are waiting for someone to take care of them. Praying together includes the cry, the invocation, the aspiration, the desire for peace, the healing and salvation of the men and women of this world. Prayer is never in vain; it rises ceaselessly to the Lord so that anguish is turned into hope, tears into joy, despair into happiness, and solitude into communion. May the Kingdom of God come soon among people!
For the sick, in memory of the dead, for peace
