During the Sundays of Ordinary Time, the first reading and the gospel reading have a common thread. Commonality is not always easy to find, but today this is not a problem. Each reading is about being humble.

The Book of Sirach is wisdom literature from about 200 years before Jesus. The author says:
 

"Conduct your affairs with humility,
and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts.
Humble yourself the more, the greater you are,
and you will find favor with God."

The reasons to be humble are what we all want: "to be loved more" and to "find favor with God!"

In the gospel reading, Jesus tells us that some things we may think are important in this life will be of no consequence in the next:
 

"For every one who exalts himself will be humbled,
but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

Jesus continues with an example of whatís important in this life. We are to invite to diner those who cannot repay us. And, Jesus tells us the reasons for doing so: we will be "blessed," and we "will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous," who are those who follow Godís commandments. Again, this is more of what we all want!

My sisters and brothers, these two readings certainly say that it behooves each one of us to be humble. For by being humble, we will "be loved more," "find favor with God," be "blessed," and "be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

Our immediate question should be, "How can we get to be more humble?" But, first letís define what being "humble" means.

Being humble does not mean that we must grovel, or become a hermit. To be humble, we must not be contemptuous, arrogant, proud, assertive, costly, or luxurious. We must be modest and loving. We must depend on God.

Jesus told us about humility when he said that he came to serve, not be served. This suggests that we must be the face of Christ to others. We can learn about doing this by observing the humble among us. Of course, we all know of Mother Teresa. Some of my best models of being humble are the Benedictine nuns in Piedmont and the Benedictine monks in Shawnee. We donít have to look even that far because there are St. Monica parishioners who are excellent models of humility.

We learn about being humble from the order of the letters in the word joyóJ-O-Y: "J" stands for Jesus, "O" is for others, and "Y" is for you. To be humble, we must place God and others before ourselves.

The shape of the cross provides an image for doing this. The vertical arm represents the relationship between God and us. The horizontal arm is the relationship between others and us. We must have both of these relationships.

We must be humble before our God by spending time with him in prayer, for it is only then that we can determine what he is calling us to do with our lives. If we put ourselves first, then there will not be enough time for God.

Todayís gospel tells us that we should be humble through our relationships with others. Who will be at our Labor Day picnics? Will their nationality, economic, marital, sexual, educational, employment, or religious statuses be different than ours? Will any be handicapped? Do we invite and welcome these people to our parish?

Just before we leave here today, I will tell you "to go forth to love and to serve the Lord." In the gospel reading, Jesus tells us to reach beyond our families to "invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind." Yes, this is a paradox and will surely make us uncomfortable in this life. But, Jesus also told us in todayís gospel that we will be "repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." How will we respond to Jesus?