Today’s Sunday Refresh readings are gotten from: Ecclesiasticus 3:19-21, 30-31; Psalm 68; Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24; Luke 14:1, 7-14
Grace and peace to you my dear brothers and sisters in the Lord.
In the First Reading of today, we have an explicit counsel on humility. The author says, “The greater you are, the more you should behave humbly, and then you will find favour with the Lord…”
We may as well end the homily here and just meditate on this.
In the Gospel of today, Jesus once again teaches us to be humble in our thoughts and all our ways and to not look down on anyone. The summary of the Gospel is, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the man who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Today, dear friends, the Lord is calling us to pay attention to the disease of the soul called pride. We are all afflicted by this in different degrees because of our wounded nature. However, today we are invited to self-awareness, to make an intentional effort and to pray for humility.
Humility is a characteristic of God. It is Godliness. Pride is the dominant characteristic of the devil.
God is more inclined to use the humble as His instrument because a proud soul will claim glory for itself.
The sad part is that some people are seriously affected by this disease but they lack self-awareness.
Hence, I will state in this homily, three tendencies for us to watch out for in ourselves, three tendencies we must try to avoid because they are symptoms of pride.
A. The desire or tendency to sing our own praises, to announce our achievements, to tell the world how great we are, to boast about who we are.
Similar to this is when we do things to be seen and praised. Those who are truly great don’t sing of their own greatness and don’t seek glory for themselves.
Humility is an authentic mark of true greatness. Jesus was divine and yet He was able to conceal the glory of His divinity – He simply became and lived like us. He didn’t seek glory for Himself but lived to glorify the Father (Philippians 2:6-7).
B. The tendency to look down on others.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus told His host that when next he organised a party, he should invite not just the rich and comfortable but the poor and lowly. Looking down on anyone, judging ourselves as better than others and treating people as if they don’t matter, is an indication of pride. The Psalmist of today tells us that God doesn’t look down on anyone. He prepares a home even for the poor.
C. The tendency to reject criticism, correction, or other people’s opinion.
Some people don’t cope well with correction or criticism. When some people’s ideas are not accepted, they get worked up. When some people’s actions are questioned, their ego reacts and they conclude that they are hated. Some abandon what they are doing just because someone finds fault in their operation. This is also common amongst Church ministers and those who work in the Church or hold offices in the Church.
As long as none of us is perfect, all of us must be open to correction, criticism, new ways of doing things and to the perspective of others, without getting discouraged, angry or bitter.
Today, let us ask the Holy Spirit to lead us to ourselves, to open our eyes and make us aware of areas of our lives where God is calling us to repent and become better. Let us pray as we receive the Eucharist, that our hearts may become like Jesus’, in meekness and humility, Amen.
Sermon preached by Rev. Fr Emmanuel Baraka-Gukena Okami on August 28, 2022.