For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and the man who humbles himself will be exalted.
Gospel of Today (Luke 14.1,7-14)
You can also read the saying (above) as a paradoxical law of spiritual growth. There is a strong tendency in our culture to be self-centred in our desire to grow spiritually. Jesus is telling us that if we try too much to measure our spiritual growth, we end up regressing. If we leave ourselves in God’s hands, letting him do the exalting, as it were, we give ourselves space to grow. St Francis expressed this attitude perfectly when he said:
’What I am before God is what I am, and nothing more.’ Don’t remain abstract at this point: remember the moment when you understood this law, and moved away from preoccupation with yourself, and thank God for sending you Jesus to teach you through a friend or a spiritual guide. Pray for someone who is making that same mistake, that they may experience the ‘exaltation’ that flows from total trust in God’s love, which is what the saying means by humbling ourselves.
Look back, then, to verse 1 in the passage, and see Jesus in that hostile environment, perfectly free, not afraid to accept an invitation to have a meal with people who he knew did not share his values. The secret to his freedom is, of course, precisely the attitude he taught in this parable: he knew that he was in his Father’s hands, and that was sufficient for him. Compare him with those others who were picking the places of honour and recognise two attitudes which we have all adopted at times, and which we have seen in our communities.
They would be those who consider themselves superior to others and oppress them with their superior attitudes. The saying then becomes a prayer of thanksgiving like the Magnificat, or a prayer of trust, leaving to God the work of establishing his kingdom of peace and justice.
It also becomes a challenge to us to play our part in correcting the imbalances of society.
This week I will look at humility.
With love and prayers Fr Michael