Catholics are often criticised for not knowing the Bible. But, really they do. It’s just that they are not show-offs. Otherwise, how do we explain the universal [Catholic] behaviour of coming to Church but seating at the back of the Church? Isn’t that what the Gospel tells us to do? “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take your seat in the place of honour. If someone else more important has been invited, you would surely be asked to take a lower place”. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that Catholics don’t know the bible. We are obedient, even unconsciously so.
But, what Catholics may need to know about not taking the place of honour is what true humility consists in. Jesus, if you read the Gospel is not against “honour” per se. If he were against honour, then he would not have accepted the invitation to the feast given by the Pharisees. The Pharisees apparently considered Jesus to be of their status which explains why they invited him in the first place. Honour, in the context of the Gospel, is a cultural phenomenon translated into the ever familiar “face”. The fear of losing face is very ingrained in some cultures so much so that honour is valued over and above family relationships. For example, brothers have been known to kill their sister, for daring to fall in love with an outsider, all in the name of upholding the honour of the family.
Since honour is about maintaining the status quo, then Jesus is against the wall of “exclusivity” or status quo erected by honour. Honour prevents people from reaching out. Honour prevents people from coming in. For example, one of the reasons why some BECs are not functioning as well as they should has something to do with honour. In the Gospel, Jesus mentions about inviting people who can repay the courtesy. What happens is that because we feel that our home, our humble abode is below the dignity of our more well-to-do brothers and sisters, we shy away from BECs because to be part of the BEC means that we might be forced to open our homes to others thus exposing our humble abode to the possibility of a loss of honour.
This wall of “exclusivity” can only be broken down by humility. Shying away from BECs or sitting at the back or outside is not really humility. If you think about it, honour and humility are not two poles apart. But in fact, true honour is synonymous with humility. St Teresa Avila says that humility is truth and true humility means accepting who we really are. Have you encountered people whom when you praise them are far too modest to accept your praise? A person who suffers from inferiority complex or has poor self-esteem may seem to be humble but he/she is not because humility is born of an inner certitude that you possess an intrinsic value that matters to God. It takes a lot more humility to accept the truth about us. There was this girl with the ugliest face you have ever seen. Once, as I was distributing Holy Communion, she came up and as I looked up to give communion, I nearly let out a gasp. But, she on the other hand, was not self-conscious about her “ugly” look. Whatever others may think of her, she had already come to terms with the truth of how she looked. When we have come to accept the truth of who we are, we begin to let go of the things that we use to make us bigger than who we are. True humility liberates or brings freedom from the need to prove oneself.
Otherwise, life would be like what Jesus described: jostling for the first place of honour. Once, the mayor of a town invited all the people of the town to a banquet. Among those who showed up was John, a man of scholarly wisdom. The mayor invited him to sit at the main table but John refused, thanking the major and insisting to sit where the poor sat. One after another the guests arrived. The more distinguished ones naturally chose to sit at the main table—nearer to the stage, more in the limelight, etc. Soon, all seats were taken except the one table at the fringe where John sat. There was only one empty seat. And as it was fashionable, one very distinguished guest arrived. The mayor had no choice but to show him to the marginal table at the fringe. The distinguished guest protested: This table is too far from the centre of action. It’s a fringe table. “No,” said the mayor, “this is the main table”. “I don’t understand it” answered the man. “Wherever John sits is the main table”, the mayor replied.
And exactly where can we find this main table? Here at this Eucharist. At this table we can be who we are because it is a celebration of humility. We encounter Jesus our host. But he is a host unlike the Pharisee. Here at our celebration, there are no special places. You sit where you want because before Jesus we are all equal. With Jesus, every place is an honoured place.
The Gospel tells us very much that it is not our station in life that makes us honourable—not what we possess, not what rank we have achieved that makes us honourable. Rather it’s who we are inside that makes us honourable. Furthermore, the more honoured one is, the more one must be at the service of others. The 1st Reading says “the greater you are, the more you should behave humbly”. Jesus our host is the perfect model and example: His state was divine yet he did not cling to his equality with God but emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave and became as men are, and being as all men are, he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a Cross.
He was God but be became slave for all of us.
