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As you may have already figured out, there’s always a connection between the first reading, the Hebrew Scriptures, (or what we used to call the Old Testament) and the gospel. Sometimes all three readings dovetail nicely. The connection between the first and third readings centers around humility, being humble.

It says in that first reading from the Book of Sirach: “perform your tasks with humility.” A little later it says, “The greater you are, the more you must humble yourself.” And at the end of the reading, it goes on to say that calamity is the predictable result of being too proud.

This same theme of humility is continued in the gospel where Jesus encourages us to take the lowest seat at the wedding banquet rather than the place of honour, if for no other reason than it might save you a lot of embarrassment.

For every one of us, our game will eventually fall apart. Every one of us will be humbled by life.  Maybe one of your children will be arrested and their crime will be splattered in the media for all to see.  Maybe you will be humbled by failing health forcing you to bury your pride and ask others for help.  Maybe your marriage or your finances will fail.  Maybe emotionally, you will have a breakdown and will have to seek professional help.  Life has a way of humbling us, of forcing us to take the lower seat. 

Here are three vignettes that remind me of the positive side to humility.  Vignette #1: Do you remember Peter Jennings the ABC news anchor, who died back in 2005?  Although he was born in Toronto, he was raised in Aylmer, Quebec, where I’m from. When he played hooky from school, which was often, he would hide out at Couture’s Pool Hall, a greasy dive on Main Street in Aylmer.  Later, as a young adult, he fudged his resume by claiming that he graduated from Carleton University Journalism School, which he did not.  Years later, as an established news anchor, he is invited to give the convocation speech to the graduates at Carleton University. He addressed the graduates by telling them, much like Jesus tells us in the gospel, to remain humble. Peter Jennings compared the knowledge we have, at any given point in our lives, to an island. The water, surrounding the island, is all the stuff you don’t know. The bigger the island, the more you know. The bigger the island, the more shoreline you have, the more you are touching the unknown. The more you know, the humbler you should become, because you realize that what you know, is only a drop in the bucket of all there is to know. In the 15 seconds it for me to cross the stage and receive my biology degree in my hand, I realized—in that short time– that I knew nothing about biology.  Oh, I knew something, but the something I knew was only a drop in the bucket compared with all there was to know in the vast world of biology. It was a humbling moment to say the least.         

Vignette #2. There was an airplane flight I took many years ago that reminds me of the humility Jesus is calling us to in the gospel. Jesus’ story had to do with choosing a seat and so does my story. Never able to afford a first class, a business class, seat on an airplane, I’m always relegated to the economy class. Well, one day, I hit the jackpot. I got the only seat in economy that has leg room; it’s the seat next to the escape hatch should there an emergency. The flight attendant gave me the instructions on what to do in case of emergency. I wasn’t listening to a word she said. I didn’t care that the safety of the other passengers was in my hands. All I cared about was that, for the first time in my life, I got extra leg room!  Nobody was going to wrestle it from me. Today was my luck day; the stars were aligned.

No sooner did I close my eyes, and settle in for a comfortable flight, I heard a commotion. A mother, with four children in tow, settled in the four seats next to me. One child would have to sit in the rear of the plane and was clearly upset about being separated from her siblings and mother. I immediately remembered today’s gospel story about choosing the lowest seat at the banquet. I also remember how the host tapped that guest on the shoulder and asked him to take a lower seat, because the place of honour was reserved for someone else. I could see the distress on this child’s face, on her mother’s face, and on the face of the flight attendant. So, before the flight attendant asked if anyone would trade seats with this girl, I volunteered immediately. My one and only chance to have leg room, my one and only chance to “pretend” I was on first class, went up in smoke. 

This gospel text is related to something else Jesus said (and did). Jesus said, “I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me; I lay it down of my own free will” (Jn. 10:18). On the surface level we tend to think that Jesus’ life was taken from him through the combined efforts of the religious leaders and the Roman soldiers, who drove the nails into him. But on the deeper level, that’s not true at all. Long before they attempted to take Jesus’ life, he had already laid it down of his own free will. Nobody takes Jesus’ life. Nobody! And nobody, on an Air Canada flight, takes Phil Mulligan’s seat. Before they can take it, I’ve already given it up of my own free will. A little bit of sacrificed leg room is only a drop in the bucket compared to the joy on a stressed mother’s face. 

Third and last vignette on the topic of humility. About 15 years ago, priests in Atlantic Canada were invited to Halifax for two days of talks given by Fr. Ron Rolheiser. It was a priest addressing other priests. At the end he said something that has stuck with me ever since and reminds me of the gospel. (Now this does not apply to you who are not priests, but it does have some broader application in all our lives). He said, “Guys, don’t let the Church take your celibacy from you; offer it of your own free will. Give it away before it’s even asked of you. Because if you don’t offer it freely, and you feel it is being taken from you, you will resist it, you will fight it, and in the end, you will become bitter and angry.” 

How true! If I had not given up my flight on the airplane freely, I may have been coerced into doing so by the flight attendant. And in that case, I would have become bitter and angry protesting inwardly, “No, this is my seat. I paid for my ticket, and I have a right to this seat. Besides, I need the leg room. A little girl does not need the leg room, but I do. I’m not giving up my seat.” It could have turned into that, but it didn’t. 

Jesus himself would have been fully in his rights to argue, “I’m not giving up my life. Don’t you know who I am? I’m the Son of God! If you want to take my life, you’ll have to drag me out the Garden of Gethsemane with your swords, you clubs, and your armed guards, because I’m not giving up without a fight.”

The truth of it is, they had no life to take from Jesus, because long before they arrived at the Garden of Gethsemane to arrest him, he had already given up his life freely. He gave his life to the twelve Apostles, to the woman caught in adultery, to the blind beggar, to the lepers, to the scorned women, to the tax collectors. In fact, he freely laid it down to anyone and everyone who simply ask for it. Just ask, and you’ll see how easily and freely he lays down his life for you. He’s always taking the lower seat so that you can have the place of honour.

Fr. Phil Mulligan