Word to the Wise
Saturday, October 31, 2015 - Saturday in the 30th Week in Ordinary Time
[Rom 11:1-2a, 11-12, 25-29 and Luke 14:1, 7-11]"When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, 'Give your place to this man,' and then you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place..." [Luke]
The setting of table fellowship is one of the prominent methods in the Gospel of Luke to showcase Jesus' teachings. It could also be called a "symposium" setting. Some of us may have read Plato's famous dialogue, "The Symposium," in which each participant is invited to speak about love. One very important feature of table fellowship involved the seating arrangements. There are people in the White House whose job it is to make sure of the social ranking of persons at a formal banquet. And, yes, there is great sensitivity to this sort of thing at the Vatican, too. One does not put an ordinary archbishop ahead of a cardinal in photo ops with the Pope.
Jesus notes the jockeying for places of honor at the table of the "leading Pharisee." He takes advantage of the Middle Eastern (and probably Greco-Roman) concern with "honor" (what we would call "face") to point out the danger of putting oneself ahead of others. Remember James and John and their desire to be on Jesus' right and left? Taking a lower place could result in greater honor when the host notices and says, "My friend, move up to a higher position." (I rather dread that call at banquets because I hate sitting at "head tables.") One of the ironies of the scene is that the greatest person there, Jesus, is probably pretty far down the table because of his attacks on Pharisaical behavior.
True humility comes from taking a good honest look at oneself and doing the best one can with the present situation. The Lord will determine the "honor." AMEN
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