Gospel: (Luke 14:1,7-14)
Jesus said to them, “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. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Then he said to the host who had invited him, “When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters, or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.
Reflection:
Humility is recognizing that by God’s choosing us we are raised up to share in divine riches and bestowed with the great dignity of sharing in God’s life. If this is how God relates to us, then this is how the disciple relates to others. As God has bestowed dignity on us, so do we shower others with dignity. If we wish God to invite us to the divine banquet, then we also extend ourselves to all others regardless of social, economic, religious, or cultural status. Before disciples can be hosts to the poor and disadvantaged they must humbly recognize themselves as those who have received a place of honor at God’s banquet table. Humility is recognizing that we are gifted, enriched, and nourished by God so that we can then reach out to others in the same way. (Living Liturgy, p.200)
Vincentian Meditation:
“St. Vincent asks his followers to be humble, loving servants of the poor. We know that he gave great importance to humility in all that we do for the poor. He did so because that was his conviction and the fruit of his own meditation on the manner of life lived by Jesus. St. Vincent was also convinced that it was all-important that the poor would feel at ease in our presence. What we do for the poor must come, not only from a loving but also from a humble heart. In a very striking sentence at the end of one of his conferences, St. Vincent shares the conviction that however charitable we may be, if we are not humble, we do not have real charity.” (McCullen, Deep Down Things, p. 560)
Discussion: (Share your thoughts after a moment of silence)
How do we live our core value of humility in the spirit of St. Vincent?
Closing Prayer:
O God, through Christ, the merciful Servant,
-give us a loving and humble heart.
O God, through Christ, the humble Servant,
-give us a loving and humble heart.
O God, through Christ, the loving Servant,
–give us a loving and humble heart.
Amen.