Monday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

Today we continue along with both St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians and with Jesus’ comments in the gospel of Luke regarding banquets. The passages are complementary inasmuch as they draw our attention to the blessings of humility. In the Philippians passage, Paul invites the Church of Philippi to be united. His words speak to the ideal unity of a church community when he instructs them: “Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but also everyone for those of others” (Phil. 2:3-4). Imagine if every member of the Church was able to act in this way. Certainly in such humility there would be a true unity, and in such unity, a great blessing. Likewise, in today’s gospel passage Jesus, dining at the home of a prestigious man, tells his gracious host that who he ought to invite to eat is not those closest to him. Friends and family members can easily return the favor by having the host over in turn. Rather, Jesus says that a true banquet ought to be for those who cannot repay. Though the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind cannot repay, God himself will repay the person who shows love to these people.

This seems to be, and ought to be, a major challenge for us. Hospitality is quickly becoming a lost art in our American culture, and hospitality to strangers in need is certainly unpopular. Notice, however, that Jesus is not making a threat. He is not condemning us for our failures at hospitality. Rather, he is rightfully praising the humility in people that acknowledges others (including the neediest of society) as persons worthy of hospitality. Those who do this are blessed because, to paraphrase the words of Philippians, they look out for the interests of others and not simply for their own interests (i.e., the desire to have one’s hospitality repaid). Humility, like hospitality, has become somewhat lost in our culture. Even our uses of variants of the word indicate this, for example, the expression “I was so humiliated!” we take to have a negative meaning.

Humility, we often think, belongs to the weak or the young. Confidence and pride are the natural consequences of leading a successful life. It is for this reason that our passages today are so challenging. As is often the case, the gospel message subverts what our culture’s common sense takes to be truth. We are in fact called to humility. And it is when we are truly humble that we are truly blessed.

Today, let us take some time to reflect on how we look out for others’ interests in our own lives. How can we further foster humility by attention to those around us, especially those most in need of our hospitality and compassion?

- Maria Morrow