Luke 14:1,7-11 Real Humility

Luke 14:1,7-11 Real Humility

(Click here for readings)

At the home of one of the leading Pharisees, Jesus 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…For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.

I was worried this Halloween.  I was worried that I would run out of candy.  So on Wednesday afternoon, I went to Albertsons to buy a few more bags of candies just to be safe.  While I was driving, I was thinking to myself, “Let’s see…there are approximately four thousand parishioners here.  We have nearly nine hundred kids in our school…They all know me…I’m gonna need a lot of candy.” 

I bought nearly one hundred dollars worth of candy.  I bought the good stuff:  Kitkats, Reeses, Hersey bars, Hersey kisses, etc…  

I ripped open a few bags and put the chocolates in a large container.  I sat down and waited for the storm to hit. 

6:00 pm:  All quiet.  I thought to myself, “Well, it’s still early.  The kids are having dinner.”  7:00 pm:  Nothing.  I reasoned with myself, “They must be getting ready.”  8:00 pm:  Not a living soul.  I questioned myself, “What is going on?”  I checked the outdoor lights.  9:00 pm:  What the…!!!

Not a single kid showed up at my door.  This coming Monday, I will throw all my candy at them!

I thought I was popular.  I thought I was the only one.  I thought I would get inundated with little hands.  I thought there would be a line at my door.  Instead, I got nothing, no one, not a soul, not even an emergency call!

The Lord said, “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.’”

What a practical tip.  What a helpful hint.  But is it really that?  Is the Lord writing a self-help book full of “techniques” to help his followers to “appear” more humble?  Theoretically (or theatrically) , is it not possible that a very arrogant man could intentionally sit in the back only to be told to come up to the front?  Isn’t seeking attention part of the problem with humility?

The Lord is not offering us some practical tips or helpful hints to be more humble.  The Lord is offering us a humble way of life.  Humility is based on the truth.  And the truth is:  We are nothing without the Lord.

Doesn’t St. Paul sound a bit arrogant in his letters?  In one of them, he writes: “Be imitators of ME for I imitate Christ” (Eph 5:1).  Wow!  Is it humility to equate oneself to Christ?  It is!  But only if you are a saint; that is, if Christ lives and breathes and works through you.  In today’s reading, St. Paul writes:  “That I remain in the flesh is more necessary for your benefit.”  Wow!  Imagine for a moment if I went to your house and told you, “You should feel blessed to have me in your presence!”

Any sane person would throw me out the door.

The secret to humility is not found in any self-improvement book.  Rather, it is found in the person of Jesus Christ. 

The secret to humility is found in TOTAL obedience to God’s Will. 

When a humble man acts on a good decision and it doesn’t work out, he will not resort to breaking all the commandments to get what he wants.  Instead, he will trust that the Lord has an alternate plan for him.  He knows (and accepts) that God’s plan is always the better plan.

It’s not so much what we say or do, but how we live.  That’s what made Saul, Paul and Paul St. Paul.

Luke 9:57-62 The Would Be Followers

Luke 9:57-62  The Would Be Followers

(Click here for readings)

As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding on their journey, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go?”  Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”

Amanda Clayton had it all.  Her life had become a rags-to-riches story.  The story of Cinderella had finally come true!  

For years Amanda collected welfare benefits.  But that all changed in September of last year when she won one million dollars in the Michigan state lottery.  But one year later, almost to the date, she was found dead of an apparent drug overdose.  Her former boyfriend told a reporter, “The Amanda I knew was a caring person….She went down the wrong path, she got the money, got the freedom and felt like she could do whatever she wanted.”   Let’s keep her in our prayers.

Poverty kills.  Wealth does too.  But money is not the root of all evil.  Sin is.  Sin separates our heart, our mind, our will, our worth and our dignity from our Creator.  And when that happens, evil happens.  And that evil can lead us to the worst possible separation ever, the worst divorce ever:  hell.

Job was a very special man.  He was found worthy of God’s graces.  Yes!  God’s graces!  Even though his possessions were put through fire, his servants put to the sword, and his children swept away, he never found it in his heart to curse God!    Job was a man of deep faith and not of deep understanding.  Even when his mental faculties were tested and his body afflicted, he refused to try to explain why God would do this to him.  Through it all, Job never lowered his dignity; never forgot his Creator.

I say that Job was a man found worthy of God’s blessings because he was.  When this beautiful story of faith and fidelity was circulating among the Jews, he was the closest imitation to the real, yet unknown, person of Jesus Christ. 

Job is the prototype, the forerunner, of Jesus Christ.  But where Job lost everything, Christ gave everything.  Why?  Because it was worth it. 

Scripture scholars continue to debate whether or not this story is true.  I don't know why!  Give me a break.  Don’t they know people who have gone through “hell”, who have lost everything they had and everyone they loved?  Who cares if Job is a fictitious or anonymous name.  The facts speak for themselves.  The name “Job” may have been created, but we don’t need to be very creative to come up with this narrative.  We have seen it for ourselves!  Maybe we have lived it ourselves!  I know plenty of people who have gone through very dark times.  What makes all the difference in the world is how they respond to it; how it can get much better or far worse! 

Lord, I will follow you wherever you go!  How immature!  What nonsense.  Someone came up to the Lord and said, “I will follow you wherever you go?”  Sure, the first day, the days of excitement, are the best and easiest days.  But when days become years…  This poor guy didn’t know what he was talking about.  Job lost all that he had because the Lord stripped it from him.  This would-be-disciple thought he could bring it all.  Little did he know the Lord would ask him to strip down (physically and pride-fully) to nothing!  Poverty, chastity and obedience have a way of doing that to people.  My oh my!!!  But don’t feel too sorry for priests.  All commitments, even marriage vows, have a way of doing that to people! 

Love is all about giving and receiving…and in that order, and not always receiving on time.

It is immature to think the Lord will do what we tell him to do if we pray to him.  It is highly irrational to think that God’s protection means I will not experience dark days.  It is pure fantasy to think with God on my side, I will be rich and healthy.  Sorry folks, I just don’t see that anywhere in Scripture.

God is not very much interested in helping us settle down on earth.  He is very much interested in uprooting us and making His home our dwelling place.  This isn’t a “pie-in-the-sky” faith.  This is mission impossible - Delta force and Navy SEALS - work on earth!  Why would anyone risk their lives like these people do?  Because they consider it worth it.  They have been called to serve. 

We've been called too.

Job reacted in a way that none of the “would-be-followers” of Christ did.  When he experienced the loss of family and friends, Job did not look back:  The Lord gives and the Lord takes, blessed be the Lord now and forever!  What a declaration of faith!

Our faith and prayer life are very important for our survival and holiness.  We may lose our treasure on earth, but we can never lose the treasure of our faith.  The glitter and confetti of life’s pleasures will eventually fall…fall flat on the ground, but our hearts and minds must remain firmly planted on that which never changes.  When autumn approaches, let us prepare for winter.  When our enthusiasm for God evaporates faster than our possessions, do not grind your teeth and cast the Lord aside. Instead, hold firm to the faith of our Fathers.

Luke 9:1-6 Abandonment vs. Loneliness

Luke 9:1-6  Abandonment vs. Loneliness

(Click here for readings)

Jesus summoned the Twelve and gave them power and authority… and he sent them to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick.  He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money, and let no one take a second tunic.”

While I was working at Kodak, I enjoyed the benefits of a salary and excellent health insurance.  When I left the business world and entered the seminary, I lost both, my salary and health insurance.  So, for nearly twenty years, I never earned a salary and never had health insurance.  At first this was a huge concern to me, but I gradually began to trust in God and my concerns nearly vanished. I can honestly say I never got seriously ill while I was a religious.  Then, in 2010, I began the process of incardination in the Diocese of Dallas.  I immediately received health insurance.  And within a year, I was admitted into the emergency room at least three times!  Wow!

Interesting…

What is the moral of the story?  There might be a few.  (1) The Lord provides everything we need when we need it.  (2) The more we have, the more we worry.  [I find this one to be more in tune with my personality.]

Take nothing for the journey.  Of course the Lord wants his Apostles to take something with them.  But what is it?  What is the essential item?  What does He want us to take with us whenever we go somewhere or whenever we do something?  What are we supposed to never neglect, never abandon and never leave behind?  What are we supposed to keep in mind before we make an important decision? 

One word answer:  Himself.  The Lord wants us to take Him along our journey of life. 

Take me with you in what you do and where you go! 

The Lord sent His Apostles, two by two, and with less and less, to learn the meaning of divine abandonment:  to place their trust, their lives, their mission, their joy, their security and peace, and sanity and health in His hands. 

Of course it was not easy, but it was the best thing He could ever do.  The earlier we learn from this, the more successful (and peaceful) we will be.  Take a look and see for yourself. 

Have you ever noticed how pretty people worry a lot about their appearance?  And how all their worrying takes away nearly all their peace?  Teenagers are scared out of their minds if they don’t have this or don’t have that.  They weigh themselves incessantly; look at themselves far more often than occasionally; manicure and whiten just about everything.  Has this increased their sense of dignity and morality?  Has it made them more virtuous and less stressed?  Where has all their security gone?  I tell you it has gone out the window along with their smile and happiness.

Have you noticed how ‘ugly’ people do not worry about their appearances?  They live with what they got.  And they actually appreciate what they have received.  In fact, they focus on other things…and for the better. 

I never worried much about my appearance.  I knew where I stood.  And that allowed me to focus on other things, far more important things.  I learned to give my attention rather than to receive attention, and that has made a happy difference in my life.

Hold on to that which is eternal; let all that is temporal slip through your fingers.  It's okay.  It's actually a good thing.

The life of Christ (of his Apostles and disciples, martyrs and saints) was a life defined by divine abandonment and human simplicity.  He and his companions learned not to fret over what they did not have.  They learned to seek no more than they needed.  They neither lived in a mansion nor drove a Ferrari.  They dressed reasonably, not fashionably.  In fact, none of us exactly know what any of them looked like.  They did not have their portraits taken or a bust made in their image.  But with all their human limitations and empires fighting against them, they still managed to turn the other cheek, conquer the Roman Empire and turn it into one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. 

Now that’s the power of Divine abandonment...and the difference between loneliness.