Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sunday Mass - Aug 28, 2016 - Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fr. Scott Donahue
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Homily Video

Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time Homily Transcript

I read this Gospel and I think of one word, I think of the word humility. And then I think of one of the most humble people that I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing, the late Cardinal Bernardin. In a couple of months, he would have been called God 20 years ago.

He was a great leader here in the Catholic Church of Chicago, and great leadership in the United States in our church, and really throughout the world. But one of his greatest assets was his humility and I think it came from his mother. He used to visit his mother every single day at the nursing home when he was here in Chicago. She was a gracious and a humble woman and taught him about humility, and he embraced it.

I can remember visiting his mother one day with the Cardinal. The Cardinal was all excited. Pope John Paul II was coming to Columbia, South Carolina, where the Cardinal was raised. And he said to his mother in excitement, “Mother, the Pope is coming to our home.” And his mother looked at him, unimpressed, and just said, “Make sure you put clean sheets on the bed.” And then she said, “And remember this too, Joseph, that the Pope puts on his pants the same way you do, one leg at a time.”

She wasn’t being disrespectful. She was noting that all of us are called as the children of God. All of us belong at the table that we hear about in the Gospel today, that all of us are loved by God and have a place at the table. That’s what we celebrate here as we come together to celebrate Eucharist. Brothers and sisters, rich and poor, sick and healthy all are called for a place at the table.

Humility means knowing your strength. Humility also means knowing your weakness. Humility recognizes that all the gifts that we have simply come from God. And the gifts that are given to us is a gift we are to share with the people of God, with one another. I think about those of you who are celebrating this Eucharist at home with us here at Mercy Home for Boys & Girls. How do we express our humility? How do we show our humility? How do we demonstrate that?

I think of one of the greatest ways in which all of us, all of us, can exhibit humility is be good listeners, by being good listeners. Listen to what people have to say. Give them the time, the patience, the understanding, and respond appropriately. Humility is one of the great gifts given to us by God, a God who has invited all of us to the table of the Lord, to celebrate, to be with one another as we share in Eucharist.

Readings

First Reading:

Sirach 3:17-18

Second Reading:

Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a

Gospel:

Luke 14:1, 7-14

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