Sunday August 29th
22nd Sunday In Ordinary Time Of The Year
Sirach 3.17-20, 28-29, Hebrews 12.18-19, 22-24, Luke 14.1, 7-14Theme: Allow God To Lift You Up!
Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ: I remember vividly on the feast of The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (August 15th), we extolled the good qualities in the life of our Blessed Mother Mary. And we saw humility as one of the virtues in the life of the Blessed Mother that marked her out as a righteous woman and exemplary follower of Christ.
In our readings of today, God invites us to live by this noble virtue of humility. The book of Sirach in the first reading today says, “My child, 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 find favour in the sight of the Lord.” (Sirach 3.17-20)
When we look into the life of our Lord Jesus, one of the things that confronts us, is that our Lord Jesus’ life was full of humility. The Bible tells us that, although, our Lord is God, he humbled himself and lived like an ordinary human being. He served us as a servant, was obedient to Mary and Joseph, like every other child in a family. Jesus humbled himself before John the Baptist and accepted human baptism. Jesus carried out his earthly ministry with simplicity and humility. Although Jesus was God, he accepted his passion and death for our redemption like an ordinary person.
Today, God wants us to follow the footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Blessed Mother Mary, the saints and many noble men and women all over the world who lived simple and humble lives. We need to come down a little in our way of life. Simplicity and humility brings one favours from God. The Bible reminds us that if we humble ourselves, “God will lift us up!”
Simplicity and humility goes with respect and obedience. And we need to live out these virtues before God and before others around us. As a child in the family, as a sign of humility, we need to respect and obey our parents, guardians, our teachers at school and also everyone around us. Among all the commandments of God, this is the only commandment that has a blessing attached to it: It says “Honor you parents that you may live long.”
Beloved in Christ, let us shun pride, arrogance, being full of ourselves, and humble ourselves before God and before others who come our way.
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