The Humble Will Be Exalted

I have been busy lately with birthday parties.  All the attention you get and the food you share give you a good feeling.  Such celebrations are expressions of us being social creatures.  Is that all?  The Gospel of today has a little more to tell us.

The best of joy in life is when you recognise the “nobodies” of the community and you invite those on the fringes to celebrate life with you. Jesus said, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not ask your friends, brothers, relations or rich neighbours, for fear they repay your courtesy by inviting you in return. No; when you have a party, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; that they cannot pay you back means that you are fortunate”.  There is no greater joy in life than making others grateful to you.  That will make your life fuller, not only at a human level, but also at a divine level.  A wise and a divinely inspired person will not be looking for places of honour for himself.  A true disciple of Christ will not be busy seeking attention for himself.  The Gospel truth is that “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted”.  It is true not just for the life on earth but for the hereafter as well.