|
Sunday comment By Fr Wynand Katende |
Little people in big seats
Aug 29 - Sep 4, 2004
|
Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and everyone who humbles himself will be exalted�. We live in a hierarchical society where protocol must be observed. It is a world where all men are said to be equal, but yet some end up being more equal than others. Organizations and communities are known to comprise junior and senior members. A boss does not share a desk with the secretary. One has to first report to the secretary before seeing the boss. It implies a promotion for one to move from a lower office to a higher one. In which case it would be normal that junior and senior members of the same organisation are not rated the same not only at the level of business, but also in other, matters. Fancy a class system on a plane or a high table at a dinner! It would therefore tantamount to being uncultured, impolite and proud, for an invitee to show up and automatically fix oneself at the high table, even if the invitation indicated so. The person, who waits until he or she is accorded honour, and ushered in, even when it appears obvious, is considered a gentleman or lady. It is with the aim of avoiding embarrassments at formal gatherings that protocol committees and ushers have become imperative. To achieve true honour one must, ironically, first invest a lot in the virtue of humility. Children are taught at a very early age to know their rightful position and to accord due respect to elders. I recall once earning myself a few canes for having been caught sitting in the teacher�s chair and trying to mimic him. Yet Jesus� lesson goes deeper than simple etiquette. It is essentially about life in the kingdom of heaven. He gave accompanying parable in the context of warning the Pharisees against pride, an attitude so much attributed to them. Simply by virtue of their status as religious leaders and elite of the day, they erroneously considered themselves great and automatically eligible of high sits even in the kingdom of God. No one can ever know for sure if one deserves a seat at all at the heavenly banquet. God reserves the right to make the guest list and to allocate the right sit for each one. Those who achieve positions of honour through corrupt means have definitely no place before God. Jesus is, in effect, preparing us for a big surprise when we shall see people that never deserved positions of honour down here being given the VIP treatment. God will delight in exalting the ex-gate keepers, waiters, cleaners and even gatecrashers. �He has pulled down the princes from their thrones and raised the lowly�, contemplates the biblical Mary and Mother of Jesus. We have all witnessed lives of people like Mother Theresa of Calcutta. Despite her size, she became a celebrity by associating not with the powerful of this world but with the most despised of society, the wretched of the earth. But we also know that such great saints have had none for their role model other than Jesus himself. He parted with the heavenly comfort and glory and stooped lowest in order to associate and redeem the lowest ranking people of society. They are scandalised and hate the gospel. Today�s great lesson calls us to learn to walk humbly with God and with one another. We should never presume to be great. As Thomas of Kempis so wisely puts it, �One of the best ways to acquire humility is to fix the following maxim in our mind: One is worth what he is worth in the eyes of God�. It is for the lesson on humility that Jesus also endeavours to tell us that the door of heaven is narrow. |
� 2004 The Monitor Publications
ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun!
