God, in your goodness, you have made a home for the poor.

Sir 3:17-18, 20, 28-29 Ps 68; Heb 12:18-19, 22- 24a; Lk 14:1, 7-14

There are two words that pop up frequently in today’s readings: humility and the poor. The first reading says: “My child, conduct your affairs with humility, and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts. Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with God.” In the Gospel acclamation we read: “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.”

The Church teaches that humility is not just a fundamental Christian virtue but “Humility is the foundation of prayer” (CCC 2559). Only a humble heart can come and prostrate before God in prayer. Humble persons are always ready to ask for guidance from God and others. Also, they listen and learn from others. It takes humility to say please, and to say “I am sorry.” It takes humility to ask for forgiveness.

The Gospel concludes saying: “When you give a dinner, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.” We are called to make a home for the poor. If truly we are God’s children; if truly we are disciples of Christ; for all of us who profess Christianity, we must strive to make spaces, room for the poor. In ancient culture, the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind represented the outcast and the ignored. Today’s message also applies to those in leadership who, in their ambition to rise up in stature, step over or step on those less fortunate, those who abuse power and authority at the expense of the forgotten and the oppressed.

We are living in a society that often criminalizes the poor. So many rhetoric that dehumanizes the poor are not unfamiliar to us. Today’s readings challenge us not just to welcome the poor to our homes (accommodate, hospitality), but also to defend them, plead their cause (justice). When Jesus ask us to give to those who cannot repay us; what does that mean? It means that true charity doesn’t look for reciprocity. When you give because you expect to receive some material favor from the beneficiary then you do not classify that as Christian charity. Christian charity’s reward comes from above.

The message today is for us to humbly see others and ourselves as God sees us, including the poor, the ignored and the defenseless. Our systems of worldly standing don’t matter to God, who calls us to break out of them. The Eucharist is a foretaste of the heavenly Kingdom where everyone is invited to sit together at God’s table: The rich and the poor. The powerful and the powerless. The famous and the forgotten. This is exactly what the second reading portrays reminding us that our destination is Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, and the city of the living God. In this city, “everyone is a firstborn and a true citizen.” Hence, as citizens of this city, we must clothe ourselves with humility like Christ our Mediator.

Real humility is not weakness. Gentleness is not cowardice. Humility is based on genuine self-awareness. We need these qualities if we are to live at peace with our neighbours. In order to follow Jesus, gentleness, compassion, acceptance of the other, must be part of our way of life. In a society based on ambition, aggression, “going for it” regardless of consequences, being meek and humble can seem like a recipe for social disaster. But this is the point. The Gospel presents the direction we must take in order to build a just society with room in it for all. Lord, help us to be humble in all we do and to make room for the poor among us. Amen