Litany of Humility – Again

By e August 28, 2022 Homilies, Jesus Stuff No Comments

Jesus gives good advice about how to behave in social situations. It is always better to be promoted than to be demoted. If we promote ourselves, we can only be demoted. If we demote ourselves, we can only be promoted. This is good advice. I know that in the workplace, where I most often encounter it, there are few things I find more distasteful than someone who is always trying to seem important. It is rather pathetic, isn’t it, when someone tries too hard to be important? The person trying to make themself important is somehow… ridiculous… because we can see through them, can’t we?

Where we sit for dinner is not as important to us as it was for the people in the first century. For them, it was very symbolic. Some of you have been to fancy dinners or weddings, where seating is carefully arranged. Those of us who are a little older remember when children sat at one table and adults at another. This is perhaps the most familiar version of this seating problem. A child sitting at the table for adults is either cute, because they want to be with us, or rude, because they are out of place. For the people with whom Jesus ate, that hierarchy continued – there was even someone at every feast responsible for making sure that everyone was seated correctly.

This parable isn’t so far fetched. This is super embarrassing – listen up, so you can tease me about this later. A little more than ten years ago I was at a nice dinner. Seating was limited, so I wandered around looking for a place to sit. A friend invited us to sit with them, so we took perhaps the last two seats. A few minutes later, he asked us to leave the table so someone joining late and not on the guest list could sit down. I was shaking with rage. I took him out to the hall and vented my rage on him, then stormed out. It took another two minutes after I finished shaking to realize I just lived this parable. Pride lurks in all of us. When it rears its ugly head, it is ugly indeed.

But Jesus doesn’t just give good social advice about humility, and remind us that the humble will be exalted, and those who exalt themselves will be cast down.

It was the sabbath, and Jesus went to dine. Then, Saint Luke says, Jesus told a parable. He told a parable…

What do you suppose his parable is about? It’s the sabbath… the day of worship. And Jesus tells a parable about a feast. It’s about worship. This parable is about us, here, today, at the eucharistic feast.

In this parable, Jesus tells us that, if you are a guest, take the lowest place; if you are the host, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind.

Jesus is the host at this eucharistic feast. We are the guests.

We are the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. We are called here today to receive a gift. We are not worthy, but we become worthy because he invites us. Like all the sacraments, the Eucharist is a gift. It is the gift of God’s self, in which God chooses to be united with us.

In Sirach, we read that a wise person appreciates simple proverbs and takes joy in listening. The proud are difficult to impress and to amuse. Perhaps this is why Jesus so often taught in proverbs and parables. He is speaking to the simple and the lowly – he is speaking to us. And, he speaks with humility himself, rarely offering a new teaching, instead repeating what God said through the prophets in ages past. Do we speak with humility, or for the pleasure of listening to ourselves? Do we listen with humility, and take joy in simple truths, or do we need our ears tickled?

The best sermon on humility I ever heard was from a young missionary named Wes. He was always nervous, but one day he got up from his chair very slowly then walked up to the microphone even more slowly. He stood there for just a moment, then said, “I have nothing to say today. I’m sorry,” then stood there for a moment, turned around, and sat back down.

I often turn to the Litany of Humility and I know I have shared it with you before. This prayer asks Jesus to take from us and to give to us what we need to become humble, as he is humble. It is a difficult prayer to offer, because it reveals my heart to myself, and asks God to change my heart. You can find it in several places on the internet, and I have posted it on stjosephslaton.com if you want to meditate upon it more. I certainly intend to resume my habit of praying this litany regularly, because I need deliverance from these desires and fears, and I need grace to even desire to become humble. Perhaps we all do.

Lord Jesus, meek and humble of heart, hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed, deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being loved, deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being extolled, deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being honored, deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being praised, deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being preferred to others, deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being consulted, deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being approved, deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being humiliated, deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being despised, deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of suffering rebukes, deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being calumniated, deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being forgotten, deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being ridiculed, deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being wronged, deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being suspected, deliver me, O Jesus

That others may be loved more than I,