Luke 14: 1, 7 - 14

1 One sabbath when he went to dine at the house of a ruler who belonged to the Pharisees, they were watching him. 7 Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he marked how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 8 "When you are invited by any one to a marriage feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest a more eminent man than you be invited by him; 9 and he who invited you both will come and say to you, `Give place to this man,' and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, `Friend, go up higher'; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. 11 For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." 12 He said also to the man who had invited him, "When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your kinsmen or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and you be repaid. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just."
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Be Humble, Be Great
Reflection on Luke 14:1, 7-14
By Nadsz Gawat
Let me tell you a story of a young child and his father. The two went to a park one day and decided to play on a seesaw. The child immediately sat on one end, the one low on the ground. He then said "Dad, go and sit on that other side." And as soon as the father did, his child on the other end began to rise. Now sitting up high the child shouted with joy,"Yipee! It's great up here. I want to stay here all day." The father said, "Son, as long as I'm sitting on this side. You will always be up there."

Today's Gospel reminds us about humility, "...the one who humbles himself will be exalted." In the earlier story the little child apparently can do nothing by his own to raise himself up in the seesaw. It is only when he recognized the presence of someone bigger than him that he experienced being lifted up. It tells us about our life. When we focus on our own self and what we can do, we become sad and sometimes frustrated because our weaknesses, shortcomings and failures are ever before us. That is a low, but it is not what humility means. Humility is not just the recognition of our insignificance but also the realization of a greatness that is not our own - God's.

Rabindranath Tagore, an Indian novelist and Nobel Prize recipient said, "We come nearest to the great when we are great in humility." On our own we have nothing, but in Christ we have everything. Aware of this, we fix our hearts and hope on God, our Father, who is almighty and all powerful. Yes, the one who humbles himself will be exalted, but not on his own effort, but by the great God who lifts him up.

Nadz Gawat is an alumnus of CYA-PLM. He is currently serving in the Singles District of the Central sector of Ang Ligaya ng Panginoon Community.
 
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