Reflection for Sunday 31st August, 2025

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Pride or Humility

It was common practice to invite an entertaining guest to a banquet. Jesus was invited to a meal in the house of a leading Pharisee. Table-talk is very different to sermon-talk. A light-hearted exchange can reach into areas that formal instruction could not touch.

In the merriment of a good meal you can expect humour and caricatures of various poses. One can detect humour in his tone of voice as Jesus refers to people blatantly vying for positions of importance.

You know the sort of person who always gets to the centre of the group photograph. But it is so embarrassing when one is moved aside because somebody more important must be accommodated. The caricature is light-hearted but the message is important.

“Be gentle in carrying out your business and you will be better loved than a lavish giver”

We are invited to look at ourselves. Am I touchy about being honoured or admired? Am I jealous when someone else is honoured? How do I feel when I am overlooked?
Gentle humour can be an effective way of getting a point across. In the light-hearted tones of table-talk Jesus poked fun at petty pomp and its little vanities. But real pride is ugly and no laughing matter. In the words of today’s First Reading “there is no cure for the proud man’s malady, since an evil growth has taken root in him.” Pride is arrogant, stubborn and uncooperative. It rebels against divine authority and will not serve. It despises others and puts self at the centre of everything. Little wonder that pride is first in the list of capital sins, those seven evil tendencies which are at the heart of sinful behaviour.

Humility means being down to earth

The proud person struts with head in the air while the humble person keeps his/her feet on the ground. The word humility comes from the Latin word humus, meaning the earth. True humility is based on down-to-earth honesty. It recognises one’s success and talents, not with pride but with a sense of gratitude and a willingness to use them. The best model is the humble honesty of Mary, the mother of the Lord. “The Almighty has done great things for me … he has looked on his servant in her nothingness.” Humility is certainly not the most popular ideal nowadays when the emphasis is on getting to the top, win at all costs, weakest to the wall.

Humility is gentle

“Be gentle in carrying out your business and you will be better loved than a lavish giver” (First Reading). Be gentle in thought, word, and attitude. Gentle in choice of words and tone of voice. Gentle in family, at work and while driving. Above all be gentle with failures, especially your own.
“Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”