Homily
for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C)
Based on Lk 14:1,7-14 (Gospel), Sir 3:17-18,20,28-29 (First Reading) and Heb 12:18-19,22-24a (Second Reading)
From
the Series: “Reflections and Teachings of the Desert”
LOWEST PLACE
“Make your way to the lowest place” (Lk 14:10)
The Gospel narrative for this 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
(Cycle C) is from Lk 14:1,7-14.
Verses 1, 7, 8, 9 and 10 say: On a Sabbath day he had gone for a meal dine
to the house of one of the leading Pharisees; and they watched him closely. He
then told the guests a parable, because he had noticed how they picked the
places of honor. He said this, ‘When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do
not take your seat in the place of honor. A more distinguished person than you
may have been invited, And the person who invited you both may come and say,
‘Give up your place to this man”. And then to your embarrassment, you would have
to go and take the lowest place. No; when you are a guest, make your way to the
lowest place and sit there, so that, when your host comes, he may say to you,
“My friend, move up higher”. In that way, everyone with you at the table will
see you honored.
Parallel text for verse 1 is Jn
9:14 that says: It had been a Sabbath
day when Jesus made the pastef and
opened the man’s eyes. Footnote f says “Such
work was forbidden on the Sabbath”.
Verse 11 says:
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the man who humbles
himself will be exalted.’
Parallel texts are:
1. Lk
18:14 - This man, I tell you, went home again at rights with God; the other did
not. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the man who humbles
himself will be exalted.
2. Mt
23:12 - Anyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and anyone who humbles
himself will be exalted.
3. Lk
9:48 …and said to them, “Anyone who
welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me
welcomes the one who sent me. For the least one among you all is the one who is
great.”
Verse 12 says:
The
he said to his host, ‘When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not ask your
friends, brothers, relations or rich neighbors, for fear they repay your
courtesy by inviting you in return. Footnote b says “Or ‘for fear they invite you in return and that be your repayment’”.
Parallel texts are:
1. Lk
6:32-35 - If you love those who love you, what
thanks can you expect? Even sinners love those who love them (v.32). And
if you do good to those who do good to you, what thanks can you expect? For
even sinners do that much(v. 33). And if you lend to those from whom you hope to
receive, what thanks can you expect? Even sinners lend to sinners to get back
the same amount (v. 34). Instead, love your enemies and do good, and lend
without any hope of return.e You will have great reward, and you
will be sons of the Most High, for he
himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked (v. 35). Footnote e says
“The text is difficult and the translation
conj. Var. ‘driving no one to despair’ or ‘despairing no one’ or ‘not at all
despairing.’”
2. Si
12:1-5 - If you do a good turn, know for
whom you are doing it, and your good deeds will not go to waste (v. 1). Do good
to a devouta man and you will receive a reward, if not from him,
then certainly from the Most High (v. 2). No good will come to a man who
persists in evil, or who refuses to give alms.b (v.3). Give to a
devout man, do not go to the help of a
sinner (v. 4) Do good to a humble man, give nothing to a godless one.
Refuse him bread, do not give him any, It will make them stronger than you are;
then you will be repaid twice evil over for allthe good deed you had done him.d Footnote
a
says “‘devout’ Greek; ‘virtuous’ Hebr. ; Footnote b says “Hebr. ‘It is no use a man’s doing good to
the wicked; he does not even perform a good work’”; Footnote c
says “Contrast the words of Jesus, Mt
5:43-47; and Footnote d says
“The Hebr. Of vv. 4-5 differs
considerably.”
3. Lk
12:33+ - On almsgivingd Sell you possessions and give alms. Get
yourselves purses that do not wear out, treasure that will not fail you, in
heaven where no thief can reach it and no moth destroy it. Footnote d says “That
riches are a danger and should be given away in alms is characteristic teaching
of Lk: cf. 3:11; 6:30; 7:5; 11:41; 12:33-34; 14:14; 16:9; 18:22; 19:8; Ac 9:36;
Ac 10:2,4,31.”
Verse 13 says: No;
when you have a party, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind;
Parallel text is Pr 22:9 that says: A blessing
awaits the man who is kindly, since he shares his bread with the poor.
Verse 14 says: That they cannot pay you back means that you
are fortunate, because repayment will be made to you when the virtuous rise
again.’
Parallel text
is Lk 6:35 that says: Instead, love
your enemies and do good, and lend without any hope of return.e You will have great reward, and you will
be sons of the Most High, for he himself
is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
Footnote e says “The text is difficult
and the translation conj. Var. ‘driving no one to despair’ or ‘despairing no
one’ or ‘not at all despairing.’”
The First
Reading is from Sir 3:17-18,20,28-29. Verses 17 and 18 say: My
son, be gentle in carrying out your business, and you will be better loved than
a lavish giver.f The greater you are, the more you should behave
humbly, and then you will find favor with the Lord; g Footnote f says “‘lavish’ Hebr.; ‘beloved’ Greek”; and Footnote
g says “Add v. 19 ‘Many are
the arrogant and renowned, but the humble are those to whom he reveals his
secrets’.”
Parallel texts for verse 18 are:
1. Pr
3:34 - He mocks those who mocks, but accords his favor to the humble.
2. Mt
20:26-28 - This is not to happen among
you. No; anyone who wants to be great among you must be your servant (v. 26);
and anyone who wants to be first among you must be your slave(v. 27), just as
the Son of Man come not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a
ransomg for many.’h (v. 28). Footnote g says “By sin man incurs, as a debt to the divine justice, the punishment of
death demanded by the Law, cf. 1 Co. 15:56; 2 Co. 3:7,9; Ga. 3:13; Rm. 8:3-4,
with notes. To ransom them from this slavery of sin and death, Rm. 3:24+.
Christ is to pay the ransom and discharge the debt with the price of his blood,
1 Co. 6:20; 7:23; Ga. 3:13; 4:5, with notes, By thus dying in place of the
guilty, he fulfills the prophesied function of the ‘servant of Yahweh’ (Is.
53). The Hebr. word translated ‘many’, Is. 53:11f, contrast the enormous crowd
of the redeemed with the one Redeemer: it does not imply that the number of
redeemed is limited, Rm. 5:6-21. Cf. Mt. 26:28+.; Footnote h says
“At this point some authorities insert
the following passage, derived probably from some apocryphal gospel ‘But as for
you, from littleness you seek to grow great and from greatness you make
yourselves small. When you are invited to a banquet do not take one of the
places of honor, because someone more important than you may arrive and then
the steward will have to say, “Move down lower”, and you would be covered with
confusion. Take the lowest place, and then if someone less important than you
comes in, the steward will say to you, “Move up higher”, and that will be to
your advantage.’ Cf. Lk. 14:8-10”.
3. Ph
2:5-8 - In your minds you must be the
same as Christ Jesus:d (v. 5) His state was divine, e yet he did not cling to his equality with Godf
(v. 6), but emptied himselfg to assume the condition of a
slave,h and became as men arei; and being as all men are,j
(v. 7), he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross (v.
8). Footnote d says “Vv 6-11 are a hymn, though whether composed
or only quoted by Paul is uncertain. Each stanza deals with one stage of the
mystery of Christ: divine pre-existence, kenosis in the Incarnation, his
further kenosis in death, his glorification, adoration by the cosmos, new title
of Lord. This hymn is concerned solely with the historical Christ in whose personality
godhead and manhood are not divided; Paul nowhere divorces the humanity and
divinity of Jesus Christ, though he does distinguish his various stages of
existence, cf. Col 1:13f”; Footnote e says “Lit.
‘Who subsisting in the form of God’: here ‘form’ means all the attributes that
express and reveal the essential ‘nature’ of God; Christ, being God, had all
the divine prerogatives by right.” Footnote f says “Lit. ‘did not deem being on an equality with
God as something to grasp’ or ‘hold on to’. This refers not to his equality by
nature ‘subsisting in the form of God’, and which Christ could not have
surrendered, but to his being publicly treated and honored as equal to God
which was a thing that Jesus (unlike Adam, Gn 3:5,22, who wanted to be seen to
be like God) could and did give up in his human life”; Footnote g says “‘He
emptied himself’; this is not so much a reference to the fact of the
incarnation, as to the way it took place. What Jesus freely gave up was not his
divine nature, but the glory to which his divine nature entitled him, and which
had been his before the incarnation, Jn 17:5, and, which ‘normally’ speaking
would have been observable in his human body (cf. the transfiguration, Mt
17:1-8). He voluntarily deprived himself of this so that it could be returned
to him by the Father, cf. Jn 8:50,54, after his sacrifice, vv.9-11”;
Footnote h says “‘slave’ as opposed to ‘Kyrios’ v. 11, cf.
Ga 4:1; Col 3:22f. Christ as man led a life of submission and humble obedience,
v. 8. This is probably a reference to the ‘servant’ of Is 52:13-53:12, cf. Is
42:1”; Footnote i says “Not
just ‘a human being’ but a human being ‘like others’; sharing all the
weaknesses of the human condition apart from sin; and Footnote j says “Lit.
‘And in fashion found as man’.
Verse 20 says: For though the power of the Lord is,
he accepts the homage of the humble.h Footnote h says “The verse calls attention to God’s
condescension in welcoming the homage of the lowly. Hebr. ‘for great is the
mercy of God; he makes his secrets known to the humble’, cf Pr. 3:32; Ps 25:14”.
Parallel texts are:
1.
Pr 3:34 - He mocks those who mocks, but accords
his favor to the humble.
2. Zp
2:3 - Seek Yahweh, all you, the humble
of the earth,e who obey his commands. Seek integrity, seek humility;
you may perhaps find shelter on the day of the anger of Yahweh. Footnote e says “The
‘humble’ or ‘poor’, anawim in Hebr. These play a large part in the Bible.
Though wisdom literature looks on poverty, resh, as the result of idleness, Pr
10:4, the prophets are aware that the poor usually the oppressed, aniyyim; they demand justice for the weak and lowly,
dallim, and for those in need, ebionim, Am 2:6f; Is 10:2; cf. Jb 34:28f; Si
4:1f; Jm 2:2f. The humane legislation of Dt. Shows the same attitude of mind,
Dt 24:10f. With Zephaniah’s poverty assumes a moral and eschatological
significance, 3:11f, cf Is 49:13; 66:5; Ps 22:26; 34:2f; 37:11f; 69:33; 74:19;
149:4; and see Mt 5:3+; Lk 1:52; 6:20; 7:22. In short, the anawim are those
Israelites who submit to the will of God. In LXX period , the word anaw (or
ani) has the added meaning of thoughtfulness for others, Zc 9:9, cf. Si 1:27. It is to the ‘poor’ that the Messiah will be sent,
Is 61:1, cfLk 4:18. He himself will be humble and gentle, Zc 9:9, cf Mt 21:5,
and the victim of oppression, Is 53:4; Ps 22:24.”
Verses 28 and 29 say: There is no cure for the
proud man’s malady, since an evil growth has taken root in him. The heart of a
sensible man will reflect on parables, an attentive ear is the sage’s dream.
The Second Reading is from Heb 12:18-19,22-24a. Verse 18 says: What you have come to is nothing known to the senses:d not a
blazing fire, or a gloom turning to total darkness, or a storm… Footnote d
says “Lit. ‘You have not approached
something that can be touched’, var. ‘a mountain that can be touched’, cf. v.
22.”
Parallel text
is Ex 19:16,18 that says: Now as daybreak on the third day there were peals of
thunder on the mountain and lightning flashes, a dense cloud, and a loud
trumpet blast, and inside the camp all the people trembled (v. 16). The
mountain of Sinai was entirely wrapped in smoke, because Yahweh had descended
on it in the form of fire. Like smoke from a furnace the smoke went up, and the
whole mountain shookk violently (v. 18). Footnote k says “‘The
mountain shook’ Hebr.; ‘the people
trembled’ Hebr. and Greek MSS.”
Verse 19 says: Or trumpeting thunder or the great voice
speaking which made everyone that heard it beg that no more should be said to
them.e Footnote e says “As
at the theophany on Sinai, when the old covenant was made. The new covenant
replaces fear with peace.”
Parallel texts are:
1.
Dt 4:11 - So you came and stood at the foot of
the mountain, and the mountain flamed to the very sky, a sky darkened by cloud,
murky and thunderous.b. Footnote b says “‘thunderous’
Greek.”
2.
Ex 20:19
- “Speak to us yourself’ they said to
Moses ‘and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we shall die.”
3.
Dt 9:19 - For I was afraid of this anger, of the
fury which so roused Yahweh against you
that he was ready to destroy you. And once more Yahweh heard my prayer.
Verse 22 But what you come to is Mount Zion and the city of the living God,
the heavenly Jerusalem where the millions of angels have gathered for the
festival,
Parallel
texts are:
1.
Rv 14:1 - Next in my vision I saw Mount Zion and
standing on it a Lambb who he had with him a hundred and forty-four
thousand people, all with his name and his Father’s name written on their
foreheads. Footnote b says “Var
‘the Lamb’.
2.
In the spirit he took me to the top of an
enormous mountain and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down
from God out of heaven.j Footnote j says “This
is Jerusalem on earth during the last or messianic days since the pagan nations
have not yet been destroyed, 21:24, and have a chance of conversion, 22:2; but
it foreshadows the heavenly the heavenly Jerusalem that develops from it. The
details of the description are most from Ezk 40-47”.
Parallel texts are:
1.
Rm 2:6 - He will repay each one as his works
deservesb :
Footnote
2. Heb
11:40…since God had made provision for
us to have something better, and they were not to reach perfection except with
us.i Footnote i says “The
eschatological epoch of ‘perfection’ was inaugurated by Christ, 2:10; 5:9;
7:28; 10:14; and access to the divine
life has been made available only by him, 9:11f; 10:19f;. The OT saints, who
could not be ‘perfected’ by the Law, 7:19; 9:9; 10:1; had thus to wait till the
resurrection of Christ before they could enter the perfect life of heaven,
12:23, cf. Mt 27:52f; 1 P 3:19+.
Verses 23 and
24 say: With the whole Church in which everyone is a ‘first-born son’ and a
citizen of heaven. You have come to God himself, the supreme Judge, and been
placed with the spirits of the saints who have been made perfect; and to Jesus…
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