HOMILY WEEK 31 02 – Yr II

Humble Praise and Worship – a Fitting Response

(Phil 2:5-11; Ps 22; Lk 14:15-24)

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Have you been invited to an important event recently?

The liturgy today both extends an invitation to participate more fully in the Kingdom of God, and suggests humble praise and worship as a fitting response to that invitation.

One has to wonder why, in the gospel, people would turn down an invitation to a great dinner, yet they do. A little reflection on the story which continues yesterday’s gospel, suggests these folks are a little too preoccupied and wrapped up in the matters of maintaining property (land), managing a business (oxen) and engrossed with their social life (marriage). All these are good things in themselves, but perhaps they lost sight of their priorities, and put the spiritual, religious and charitable matters either at the bottom of their priorities, or not on the list at all.

Sound familiar? Is this not what is happening today? Everything else seems more important (work, sports, entertainment, socializing, social media, etc.) then attending Sunday worship or volunteering for a good cause. I remember being both shocked and saddened to learn as a young missionary a group of parishioners journeyed by chartered bus to gamble at a casino in another province rather than participate in the Holy Week activities. That added to my frustration that hockey tournaments in the winter and ball tournaments in the summer made it almost impossible for young men especially to be involved in the life of the church.

Jesus gets a bit stern in his response to this situation, with the master ordering his servants to go out and invite the poor, crippled, blind and lame (almost identical to those Jesus suggested to his host earlier in the gospel) to the banquet. It is these, the marginalized and at times oppressed, who are more open to what is truly important in life and less distracted by temporal affairs. Certainly, this gospel is cause for us to pause, do some inner searching of our priorities, and perhaps make some changes if necessary.

St. Paul, in that beautiful hymn to the Philippians, offers us the model to follow – the way of Jesus – the way of Kenosis, emptying one’s self, the way of downward mobility. Jesus was one with the Father in glory, but out of obedience to the Father’s desire to reveal the depth of the Father’s love to our broken humanity, emptied himself and let go of that glory. He first become human, totally one of us, as a tiny baby at the Incarnation. Not stopping there, his life of ministry was a completely selfless one, giving of himself to others, preaching, teaching, healing, reaching out to those most in need, the wounded, sinful, afflicted, poor and sick.

The ultimate kenosis was his acceptance of the suffering of his agony, arrest, trial, torture, humiliation and in the end, the most painful death possible – crucifixion. There wasn’t a thing Jesus could have done to be humbler or to show how much God loves us. And for that commitment, Paul exults that God raised Jesus from the dead and established him as Kyrios, Risen Lord, reigning over all of creation. That was one of the roles of the Messiah when he would come, and we believe through his passion, death and resurrection, Jesus fulfilled that role and so is truly the long-awaited Messiah.

The psalm articulates what is to be our response to this great love of God – in one sentence, the poor will praise the Lord and worship him. Humility, worship and praise is a fitting response to this awesome love of God for us in Jesus Christ. This is a challenge for our modern world, so caught up trying to get to the top, obsessed with obtaining more possessions and pleasure, prestige and fame, power and control – like the folks in the gospel. Isn’t that a bit amazing, as we know, really, these things will never satisfy the deepest yearnings of the human heart such as achieving intimacy with someone else, serenity, joy, a sense of purpose and meaning to our lives, being finally at home.

Someone who understood this was the late spiritual writer, Henri Nouwen. In spite of all his success as a famed writer, popular teacher at Harvard, and sought-after speaker internationally, he was always aware of a need to step away from all this recognition, success and admiration. Even while he enjoyed the perks of success, deep within he felt the call to imitate Jesus Christ, to go to the lowest place, to empty himself in kenosis, to move in a direction of downward mobility. He was always trying to be simpler, to write so the ordinary person could understand.

It is for that reason he ended up joining the L’Arche community of Daybreak in Toronto. That was a real challenge for him. He was always a bit awkward physically, and here he would be very physically involved with feeding and washing the handicapped. This was a true kenosis, an emptying of himself. The spiritual writer Nouwen, according to another spiritual writer Ron Rolhseier OMI, was a pioneer who created a genre of writing spirituality others were now following. Yet here he was, a renowned writer of books, living in a community of mentally challenged who could not read books!

I remember meeting him in The Pas at our residence. My predecessor, Peter Sutton OMI, was the liason bishop for L’Arche, and Henri would come there at times to get away for rest and renewal when he felt the need. I was struck by how quiet, gentle, and soft-spoken he was, and by the powerful message his words always carried. I was happy to visit his grave in a church-yard in Toronto, and feel gratitude not just for his achievements, but for his fruitfulness, for how his impact carries on after his death, with even a society formed to promote his legacy.

The Eucharist is a fitting way to celebrate both the kenosis of Jesus – how he revealed to us the depth of God’s love – and also the manner in which Henri Nouwen lived the Eucharist in his own life. It is our best way of praising and worshipping our God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

May our celebration empower us to live our faith more fully through humble self-emptying, making joyful worship, heartfelt praise and loving service our priorities in life.