Sunday Reflections: 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

The central theme of this Sunday's readings is humility. It is a virtue that is difficult to obtain. Really, it is impossible to obtain it on our own. We don't even know what true humility is.

Some mistake it as self-flagellation, as accusing ourselves of all of our faults and sins; but the mistake lies not in that of itself, but leaving it there. Self-accusation is only half of the equation. The Church teaches us true humility throughout the entire Mass every time we celebrate it, but it is specifically emphasized today.

The Entrance Antiphon states, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I cry to you all the day long. O Lord, you are good and forgiving, full of mercy to all who call to you." Following in the Collect, we ask God to "put into our hearts the love of your name" and that by "deepening our sense of reverence" God may "nurture in us what is good."

Right from the beginning we are given the formula for humility. It is recognizing our neediness and complete dependence on God. On the one hand, we can only take full responsibility for our sins and our faults, but to stop there is the sin of despair. God is full of mercy, and He gives it to all who ask it from Him.

In the first reading from Sirach, we're told just how valuable humility is. We hear that conducting our affairs with humility will make us "loved more than a giver of gifts" and the more we humble ourselves the more we will find favor with God.

When we conduct our affairs with humility, we are admitted to the festal gathering of heaven which we participate in at every Mass. We are cleansed and redeemed by the Passion of Christ, whose blood "speaks more eloquently than that of Abel," the sacrifice of humility par excellence.

Now that we have the formula for humility, acknowledging our sins followed by asking for mercy from God, and that stopping at self-accusation is the sin of despair, it remains to know what the opposite means.

In the Gospel, Jesus tells us in no uncertain terms what it means to leave out self-accusation and focus only on mercy. The wedding guests who take the highest seats will very likely be told to move down because a more distinguished guest than they has been invited; they are presuming that they are the honored guests when it is likely they are not.

St. Benedict wrote in his Rule that, as a part of humility, we are not to call ourselves holy before we really are which is precisely what the first guests are doing. All of us, myself especially more times than I'd like to admit, fall into the same thing. It usually isn't long before God, in His infinite mercy, puts me back into my place.


Let us all take some time to reflect on the absolute necessity of humility. Let us acknowledge our pride and cry out to God for mercy. Let us ask Him to cleanse us of our sins and strengthen us for His service.

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