Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time - Sir 3:17-18, 20, 28-29; Heb 12:18-19, 22-24a; Lk 14:1, 7-14

08-31-2025Weekly ReflectionThe Faithful Disciple

GROW: There’s a well-known story about an actor who was asked by an elderly priest to recite Psalm 23. The actor agreed only if the priest also recited the psalm. While the actor’s delivery was met with esteem and applause, the priest’s was met with raw emotion, stunned silence, and tears. The actor, smiling, said, “I may know the psalm, but the priest, he knows the Shepherd.”

I can’t help but be reminded of this story when reading today’s Gospel. Like the Pharisees, the actor represents the one who was the “center of attention” who was humbled whereas the priest, in his humble service to God, found himself exalted. That is where true humility lies, when our actions and our everyday lives are rooted in God first and not ourselves.

GO: As Jesus reminds us today, “Every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Beyond telling us this truth, Jesus lived it. Scripture tells us that Jesus – the second Person of the Holy Trinity – “emptied himself, taking the form of a slave…” (Phil 2:7), and that he came not “to be served but to serve” (Mk 10:45). Each of us is invited to consider the ways we can imitate the same humble servant-leadership which Jesus showed throughout his life. What does servant leadership look like, practically speaking? Some simple examples: At work, it might look like signing up to do those less desirable tasks that others would prefer to avoid. In our homes, it could look mean letting your children or spouse choose what’s for dinner rather than asserting your own preferences over meal planning. In our relationships, it might mean allowing a friend to talk through their struggles without offering advice or sharing how you might have handled things differently. With the eyes of faith, each of us can see countless opportunities to practice the virtue of humility in daily life.

WITNESS: Like the priest in the story above who revealed God to the crowd in his recitation of Psalm 23, you have the opportunity to let God shine through in your life to others. Be a servant leader, seeking to glorify God rather than yourself. When you are humble you “will be exalted” and “repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”