A PLACE OF HONOR.

TWENTY SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME. YEAR C.
September 2, 2007.
(First Reading: Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29) (Psalm 68: 4-7, 10-11)
(Second Reading: Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24)
(Gospel Reading: Luke 14:1, 7-14)

A PLACE OF HONOR.

The gospel speaks of a place of honor at the "banquet of life".

Let us present this homily in two parts:
I. The banquet of life as intended by God; and

II. The world has turned the banquet of life into a banquet of death.

I. The Banquet of Life as Intended by God.
All human beings, are invited to "sit at the table of the banquet of life" where we all are to enjoy life to the fullest, with each human being having the responsibility of ensuring that all other human beings, without exception, are to equally enjoy life to the fullest.

Life is lived to the fullest whenever each person seeks the well-being of others before his own well-being.

Such is the will of God, the one who invited us to the "banquet of life"; such is the norm by which God determines who occupies "the places of honor at the table"(1).

The criteria that confers honor to a person is, therefore, his commitment to promoting the well-being of all his fellow human beings through justice, peace, unity, equality, harmony, mutual respect, mutual understanding. Thus, the more honor a person has, the higher will his "place at the table" be.

The Book of Sirach relates the place of honor to the level of humility in a person; it says: "Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with God". It means that the greater a person is, the more he shares of what he has and what he is(2), for in doing so, he is making sure that every person at the "banquet of life" enjoys life to the fullest - in deed, he is promoting a life of unity, peace and justice among all human beings - he is practicing humility.

Humility is, therefore, the way of life by which a person who has more makes those who have less equal to him by sharing what he is and what he has, in other words, a humble person is the one who brings himself to a level of equality with those who at one point in time may not be as fortunate as he is.

Thus, the humble person restores human unity, brings about justice, fosters peace, restores "life to the fullest" for all human beings, not just for himself or for his group or for his nation(3).

Jesus sits in the place of highest honor "at the table of life", as we say in the Creed: "He is seated at the right hand of the Father". He is the one who has given his own life so that we, all human beings, who once were lifeless, may share in His life. For this reason He is the example of perfect humility(4).

The one who is perfect justice, perfect harmony, perfect unity and perfect peace has deemed it appropriate to make us equal to Him if we accept to "sit at the table" with Him, that is to say, if we accept to live now the life of justice, harmony, unity and peace he has gained for us.

The banquet of life as intended by God is, therefore, the way of life in which we seek that all our fellow human beings enjoy fullness of life, just as Jesus demonstrates to us.

II. Our world has turned the banquet of life into a banquet of death.
Our world of injustice, aggressions, inequalities, wars and divisions, has created its own standards of "honor" which are radically opposed to the standards of Christ Jesus. In our world those who "sit at the places of honor" are those who hold the power acquired through the oppression and dispossession of their fellow human beings, those whose wealth and power are the product of the hunger and misery of others.

By the world's standards of honor, those whose well-being is built at the expense of the destruction of the well-being of others, are the ones who occupied the "first places" in our world; they are the ones who lack humility and abound in arrogance; they are the ones who promote injustice, aggression, war, division, etc. all for the sake of gaining and retaining their "first places".

Our world, has reversed the order God has given to the "banquet of life". In the eyes of our world: The oppressor is first, the oppressed is last; the wealthy is first, the poor is last; the aggressor is first, the victim is last. The world, therefore, has instituted the "banquet of death".

Today, Jesus reminds our world that he is, and forever will be, "seated at the right hand of the Father", that he is at the highest place of honor in the banquet of life and that he wants us to share with him the same place of honor.
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Footnotes.
(1) The Letter to the Hebrews reminds us that it is "God, the judge of all" through "Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant" the one who instructs us as to how to approach him, how to get close to him, how to occupy the "places of honor at the table".
(2) For the humble person, giving of what he has is not as important as giving of what he is. The Book of Sirach emphasizes this aspect when it says: "My son, conduct your affairs with humility, and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts".
(3) He who seeks only the well-being of his equals, with the exclusion of the rest, is only perpetuating inequality, injustice and division. Talking about the "banquet of life" Jesus says: "When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers 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, 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".
(4) Psalm 68 illustrates the reason why Jesus is the perfect humility: Being the Son of God, Jesus leaves his heavenly home to give "a home to the forsaken"; Jesus becomes a prisoner himself in order to lead "prisoners to prosperity"; Jesus becomes poor in order to give "to the poor in their need".