|
Deferring
to Others
September
2, 2007
Luke
14.1 7-14
Homily,
Fr. George Smiga
Marianne
Slattery, our Director of Religious Education, tells how one
morning she went for a run in the park. She was facing a grueling
day of family and church related responsibilities. As she
went through her schedule for the day, she realized that she
had no laundry detergent. And as she examined her schedule
she realized that the only time she had to buy laundry detergent
was now. So instead of driving home, she drove to Sears. She
walked into the store looking ragged and somewhat relaxed
in her jogging suit and tennis shoes, found the detergent,
and took her place in the checkout line. A few minutes, later
a well-dressed man with his own items for purchase consciously
stepped in line in front of her. After a moment turned around
and said “Sorry, but I have to work today.”
What
makes one person's time more valuable than another person's
time? What justifies a person taking for themselves a higher
place in line? These are the questions that swirl around today's
parable in the gospel. For our purposes today, we will pass
over Jesus' advice about taking the lowest place so you can
move to a higher. We will rather look at that underlying principle
that animates this parable—the impulse in our hearts to take
the better place for ourselves. Why do we do that?
Why
do we ask someone else to spend their time so that we can
save our time? Why do we cut someone else off from speaking
so that we can speak? Why do we imagine that our need or our
pain is greater or more important than someone else's need
or pain? Could it be because we forget that we are all equal
in God's eyes? Yes we have different gifts, and different
incomes, and different situations. But on the fundamental
level of our person we share a common human dignity which
must be respected. We are all daughters and sons of God.
So
what would happen if we consciously took Jesus' advice and
took a lower place so that someone else might take a higher
place? What if we said to our spouse or co-worker, “I see
you have a full plate today. I'll take care of this task for
you.” Would it not say to them, “I value you as a person and
I recognize that we are all children of the same God?” Would
it not at the same time remind us that our agenda, our schedule,
is not the center of the world?
What
if we consciously kept quiet and allowed another person to
speak before we did? Would we not grow in insight? Remember,
whenever we are talking, we are only saying what we know already.
It is only when we listen that we can learn something new.
What would happen if we would recognize that someone else's
need is equal to our need, or that someone else's pain would
put our pain to shame? Would it not provide an opportunity
for us to move away from self-pity and self-absorption? Would
it not open a possibility that even with our need and our
pain we might still recognize that we have blessings, that
we still have something for which to be thankful?
Deferring
to another person is not simply for that person's benefit.
We benefit as well. I have asked Marianne to share some of
her reflections on this truth after communion today. But as
we proceed now to the Eucharist, let us keep in our hearts
the message from today's parable. Let us open ourselves to
the possibility of giving someone else a higher place. Doing
so will open us to a larger vision, to a vision of God's Kingdom.
In that Kingdom, every person has value and every person's
time counts.
Mystagogium,
Marianne Slattery
I
was pretty dumbfounded that day when the man at Sears thought
that his work was more important than mine. I guess truth
be told, after I got over the shock I was actually angry.
Somewhere along the way, that's where our response goes at
least for a minute. We get angry when people think they are
more important than anyone else.
But
there's another way to respond. Instead of holding out our
importance for others to see, we might follow the example
of a well-known theologian who walked into a room at the same
time another man did. As they entered, the room came alive
with a burst of applause in welcome. The theologian, never
dreaming that the gesture could possibly be for him, stood
aside and applauded the other man, too.
This
is exactly what today's Gospel calls us to do. We are all
busy. Most of us have more to do than we can ever get done.
Quite often every minute of our day is crammed beyond capacity.
It is tempting to think that our agenda is more important
than anyone else's. Today's Gospel tells us that instead of
displaying our own importance for people to see, we are called
to defer to others. It is an act of faith to hold another
person higher than ourselves. God loves each of us equally
and can do much through us if only we are open. It is
God who provides the opportunity for us to assert our
faith by recognizing the value and dignity of another.
We
express our belief in other people's value when we put them
ahead of ourselves. We know what's on our plate, but have
we asked ourselves what might be going on in the other person's
life? Sometimes, we don't know what that person is dealing
with. What happened at home before he got to the store? What
is weighing so heavily on her mind that she seemed not even
to see me? Why is he in such a hurry to get where he's going?
That person is valuable, and so are we. God loves them just
as much as he loves us.
So
this week, let's look for an opportunity to give up our few
feet of pavement. We can let someone pull into traffic ahead
of us. Or offer someone our place in line at the store. Maybe
there's someone at the lunch table, or in the office who feels
left out or carries a heavy burden. Take the time to offer
a kind word, or sit down and keep them company. Our acts have
the potential of changing the depth and quality of our own
day.
Such
an action will not only be a blessing for them, but will also
enrich us–reminding us that we are all loved by God and equal
in his sight. Let's listen. God beckons us. God's saying,
“Come up higher. Come and see yourself and others as I see
you. You are all my sons and daughters. Adopt my vision. Come
up higher. Come on up here with me.”
|
