BE HUMBLE, BE MODEST

« Sunday, September 2 »

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 126

It-Tnejn u Ghoxrin Hadd taz-Zmien ta’ Matul is-Sena

Reading 1   Sirak 3:17-18, 20, 28-29

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.  What is too sublime for you, seek not, into things beyond your strength search not.  The mind of a sage appreciates proverbs, and an attentive ear is the joy of the wise.  Water quenches a flaming fire,

 and alms atone for sins.

QARI I      mill-Ktieb ta’ Bin Sirak 3, 17-20.28-29

Ibni, kun gwejjed fix-xoghol li taghmel, u tkun mahbub iktar minn wiehed milqugh min-nies. Akbar m’int, iktar ghandek iccekken ruhek, u ssib grazzja quddiem il-Mulej. Hafna huma l-imkabbrin u l-imsebbhin, imma l-Mulej jikxef lill-umli l-misteri tieghu. Ghax kbira hi s-setgha tal-Mulej, imma hu msebbah min-nies umli. Mhemmx duwa ghall-bniedem kollu kburija, ghax din haxixa hazina b’gheruqha mxenxla fih. Min ghandu l-gherf jifhem il-proverbji u l-gharef herqan li jkollu min jisimghu.  Il-Kelma tal-Mulej  

Responsorial Psalm    Psalm 68:4-5, 6-7, 10-11

The just rejoice and exult before God;

they are glad and rejoice.

Sing to God, chant praise to his name;

whose name is the LORD.

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

The father of orphans and the defender of widows

is God in his holy dwelling.

God gives a home to the forsaken;

he leads forth prisoners to prosperity.

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

A bountiful rain you showered down, O God, upon your inheritance;

you restored the land when it languished;

your flock settled in it;

in your goodness, O God, you provided it for the needy.

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

SALM RESPONSORJALI         Salm 67 (68), 4-5ac. 6-7ab. 10-11    

R/. (ara 11b) O Alla, int hejjejt dar ghall-fqajjar

Il-gusti jithennew quddiem Alla,

jifirhu u jaqbzu bil-ferh.

Ghannu lil Alla, fahhru ismu.

Tghaxxqu fil-Mulej, aqbzu bil-ferh quddiemu. R/.

Missier l-iltiema u difensur tar-romol,

hekk hu Alla fl-ghamara mqaddsa tieghu.

Alla jaghti d-dar lil dawk li huma wehidhom,

u lill-habsin bir-rizq johroghom. R/.

Xita bil-kotra inti bghatt, o Alla, fuq l-art, wirt tieghek,

u meta kienet bil-ghatx inti hjejtha.

Il-poplu tieghek ghammar fiha,

fi tjubitek, o Alla, ghall-fqajjar hejjejtha. R/.

Reading 2    Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a

Brothers and sisters: You have not approached that which could be touched and a blazing fire and gloomy darkness and storm and a trumpet blast and a voice speaking words such that those who heard begged that no message be further addressed to them. No, you have approached Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and countless angels in festal gathering, and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven, and God the judge of all, and the spirits of the just made perfect, and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and the sprinkled blood that speaks more eloquently than that of Abel.

QARI II      mill-Ittra lil-Lhud 12, 18-19. 22-24a

Huti, intom ma rsaqtux lejn in-nar materjali u jheggeg tas-Sinaj; lejn dak is-swied u d-dlam u r-riefnu; lejn dak id-daqq ta’ tromba u hoss ta’ kliem li dawk li kienu jisimghuh talbu bil-herqa biex ma jkellimhomx aktar. Imma intom ersaqtu lejn il-muntanja ta’ Sijon u lejn il-belt ta’ Alla l-haj, li hi Gerusalemm tas-sema; ersaqtu lejn eluf ta’ angli f’gemgha ferrieha; lejn il-gemgha tal-ulied ewlenin li isimhom hu miktub fis-sema; lejn Alla l-imhallef ta’ kulhadd; lejn l-erwieh ta’ nies tajba u perfetti; lejn Gesù l-medjatur ta’ patt gdid. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Gospel      Luke 14:1, 7-14

On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully. He told a parable to those who had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the places of honour at the table. "When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honour. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, 'Give your place to this man,' and then you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place. Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say, 'My friend, move up to a higher position.' Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table. For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted." Then he said to the host who invited him, "When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbours, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet,invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

EVANGELJU          Qari  skont San Luqa 14, 1.7-14

Darba, kien is-Sibt, Gesù dahal ghand wiehed mill-kapijiet tal-farizej biex jiekol ghandu, u huma qaghdu ghajnejhom fih. Billi ra b’ghajnejh kif il-mistednin bdew jaghzlu l-postijiet ta’ quddiem fil-mejda, qalilhom din il-parabbola: “Meta wiehed jistiednek ghal xi festa ta’ tieg, tmurx toqghod fil-post ta’ quddiem, li ma jkunx hemm xi mistieden aqwa minnek, u dak li jkun stieden lilek u lilu jigi fuqek jghidlek: “Aghti l-post lil dan”, u int imbaghad, b’reghxa ta’ misthija fuqek, ikollok tiehu l-post tal-ahhar. Ghall-kuntrarju, meta tkun mistieden, mur inxtehet fil-post tal-ahhar, biex meta jigi dak li stiednek jghidlek: “Habib, itla f’post aktar ‘il fuq”. U dan ikun ta’ gieh ghalik quddiem dawk kollha li jkunu fil-mejda mieghek. Ghax kull min jitkabbar, jiccekken; u min jiccekken, jitkabbar”. Imbaghad qal ukoll lil dak li kien stiednu: “Meta taghti ikla jew pranzu, tistedinx lil hbiebek jew lil hutek jew lil qrabatek, u anqas girien ghonja, ghax ghandhom mnejn imbaghad jistiednu lilek huma, u hekk iroddulek il-pjacir li tkun ghamiltilhom. Ghall-kuntrarju, meta taghmel ikla, stieden il-foqra, il-maghtubin, iz-zopop u l-ghomja, u hieni int, ghax dawn ma ghandhomx minn fejn iroddulek pjacir bi pjacir, imma jroddhulek Alla meta l-gusti jqumu ghall-hajja”. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

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Father Cantalamessa on Modesty

- Here is a translation of a commentary by the Pontifical Household preacher, Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, on the readings from this Sunday’s liturgy.

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Be Modest in What You Do!

The beginning of this Sunday’s Gospel helps us to correct a widely diffused prejudice: “One Sabbath when he went to dine at the house of a ruler who belonged to the Pharisees, they were watching him.” Reading the Gospel from a certain angle we have ended up making the Pharisees the prototype for all vices: hypocrisy, duplicity, falsity; Jesus’ enemies par excellence. The terms “Pharisee” and “Pharisaical” have entered into the vocabulary of many languages with negative connotations.

Such an idea of the Pharisees is not correct. There were certainly many among them who corresponded to this negative image and it is with these that Jesus has serious problems. But not all of them were like this. Nicodemus, who comes to see Jesus one night and who later defended him before the Sanhedrin, was a Pharisee (cf. John 3:1; 7:50ff.). Saul was a Pharisee before his conversion and was certainly a sincere and zealous person then, if misguided. Gamaliel, who defended the apostles before the Sanhedrin, was a Pharisee (cf. Acts 5:34ff.).

Jesus’ relationships with the Pharisees were not only conflictual. They often shared the same convictions, such as faith in the resurrection of the dead and the love of God and neighbor as the first and most important commandment of the law. Some, as we see in Sunday’s Gospel, even invited Jesus to dinner at their house. Today there is agreement that the Pharisees did not want Jesus to be condemned as much as their rival sect, the Sadducees, who belonged to Jerusalem’s priestly caste.

For all these reasons, it would be a very good thing to stop using the terms “Pharisee” and “Pharisaical” in a disparaging way. This would also help dialogue with the Jews who recall with great respect the role played by the Pharisees in their history, especially after the destruction of Jerusalem.

During the dinner that Sabbath, Jesus taught two important things: one directed to those who were invited and the other to their host. To the host Jesus says (perhaps privately or only in the presence of his disciples): “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbours …” This is what Jesus himself did when he invited the poor, the afflicted, the meek, the hungry, the persecuted — the persons named in the beatitudes — to the great banquet of the kingdom.

But this time I would like to focus on what Jesus says to the invitees. “When you are invited to a wedding feast, do not take a place of honour …” Jesus does not intend to give a lesson in good manners here. Neither does he wish to encourage the subtle calculation of those who take a lower place with the secret hope of gaining a more honourable place from the host. The parable could deceive us if we do not think about the banquet and the host that Jesus has in mind. The banquet is the most universal one of the kingdom and God is the host.

In life, Jesus wants to say, Choose the last place, try to work more for the benefit of others than for your own benefit. Be modest in evaluating your merits, allow others to do this instead (“No one is a good judge of his own case”), and already in this life God will lift you up. He will lift you up in his grace; he will make you rise in the ranks of Jesus’ friends and true disciples, which is the only thing that really matters.

He will also exalt you in the esteem of others. It is a surprising fact but a true one: It is not only God who “comes to the humble but holds the proud at a distance” (cf. Psalm 107:6); men do the same, whether or not they are believers. Modesty, when it is sincere and not affected, conquers, makes those who practice it loved, makes their company desirable, their opinion appreciated. True glory flees from those who seek it and seeks those who flee from it.

We live in a society that has an extreme need to hear this Gospel message of humility again. Running to take the first seats, perhaps without scruple using others as steppingstones, being opportunistic and viciously competitive — these are things that are universally condemned but, unfortunately, they are also universally practiced. The Gospel has an impact on society, even when it speaks of humility and modesty.

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