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22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C - 1/9/2013 - Gospel: Lc 14: 1. 7-14
The Manner
Every public celebration has places reserved for specific guests of honour. An invitation to a place of honour has significant social position or political power or economic meanings tied to it. If you are invited to a place of honour it means that you are somebody. You are special. The place of honour in every public event lasts for just a few minutes and yet sometimes it causes trouble for many. There is a real underground scrutinized competition to have a place of honour which is unknown to the public. People who actually sit at the place of honour don't realize the war of words that is exchanged between their own staffs and the organizing committee. In the name of protocol they demand every detail and it starts from a car park to a capitol letter of a title.

The kind of honours in the kingdom of God is quite different from social public events. In God's kingdom the place of honour is for the humble, the poor and the needy. Jesus invites them to have a place of honour in God's heavenly banquet. In order to get the place of honour in God's kingdom they need to go through the narrow gate. The narrow gate opens for all but not all can pass through it but those who are humble of hearts can pass through and pass through it easily. There is no competition to have a place of honour in God's kingdom. All guests are invited to the heavenly banquet are humble person. More importantly they come not to have a place of honour but they come to enjoy the company of each other. They are there with a beautiful spirit, a kind heart and a good sense of service. The love and friendship they have for each other are much more important than the place where they are going to seat in God's kingdom. Actually they come to bring service to each others.

You know that among the pagans the ruler's lord it over them, and their great men make their authority felt. This is not happen among you. No, anyone who wants to be great among you must be your servant Mat 20,26

Humility and contrite of heart go together. It is not the clever, the learned and the proud but the humble recognize their limitation, weakness and poverty before God. They know that everything they have comes from God. It is God who gives them the gifts and talents to take care of, to be a steward of God's gifts and the gifts they have not just for themselves but to share to others who are in needs of them. With special gifts and talents endowed are not proud of themselves but they give thanks to God for the gifts and give thanks for God's grace given to them. The heartfelt thanks to God comes from people that are humble of heart and who recognize God in their lives. God's love finds room in our heart and it is shown through the love we have for God and for one another. A humble person respects the gifts and talents of his/her friends because it is God's gifts for their friends to stewards of. When we recognize the talents our friends that have come from God we are not jealous of them but we give thanks to God for our friends and love the gifts God has gave them.

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