YEAR C: HOMILY FOR THE 22ND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
HOMILY THEME: REWARD OF HUMILITY
BY: Fr. Cyril Unachukwu CCE
HOMILY: God never ceases to bestow honour and elevation on those who humble themselves and place themselves under His providence. May the grace of God locate you and lead you to honour now and always; Amen.
To feel honoured and distinguished is one hidden desire that is inherent in many of us! This desire is noble and divine since God made it clear in 1Sam 2:30 that “those who honour me I will honour and those who dishonour me I will dishonour.” Every honour and honourable state comes from God. One of the greatest problems we face is the path through which we seek honour from God or even from men! Most often we walk the path of pride! This is an arrogant and pugnacious attitude of feeling more relevant and important than others; the deceptive disposition of pricing oneself above others.
The First Reading (Ecclesiasticus 3:19-21,30-31) makes it clear to us “There is no cure for the proud man’s malady, since an evil growth has taken root in him.” The shortest path to dishonour is the path of pride. Many have walked this path and they remain eternal lessons to all of us.
This was exactly the problem with the Pharisees and the guests at the wedding feast in the Gospel Reading (Luke 14:1,7-14). Their main aim was to be honoured. But they took the path of Pride and it led them to the greatest dishonour of their life; “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.”
We are invited this day to reject the path of pride if we want to be truly honoured! The Path of humility remains the most excellent and efficient way to receive honour both from God and from men and women! Because “The greater you are, the more you should behave humbly, and then you will find favour with the Lord; for great though the power of the Lord is, He accepts the homage of the humble.” Also, “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the man who humbles himself will be exalted.” The world today may want to convince us that the true and noble path of humility is the path of weakness. But then history has proved that the path of pride is the path of destruction and extinction! Also those who walked this wrong path were forgotten whereas those who walked the true path of humility are always remembered and are given to us as examples; as we have in the saints.
May God empower us to walk this path so as to be countered among the millions of angels who were gathered for the festival in the heavenly Jerusalem; Amen.
Happy Sunday and Happy/Blessed New Month; Fr Cyril CCE
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