Oh Lord, It's Hard to be Humble

Oh Lord, It's Hard to be Humble
Homily for August 28, 2016    Twenty-second Sunday of Ordinary - C
by Dcn. Bob Bonomi

Today’s readings are about humility, and they make me think about a somewhat spiritual country and western song that was popular when I was in college.  I’m sure many of you remember it, even if it was written before your time. I’ll bet you could even finish the chorus:  “Oh Lord it's hard to be humble / When you're perfect in every way.”  (I can't wait to look in the mirror. / Cause I get better-looking each day.)  Yep, Mac Davis’ little ditty actually made it into the top 10 in 1980.

I know it seems silly, but there’s a lot of spiritual truth in this song.  Oh, I don’t mean the part about getting better-looking each time we look into a mirror – we all know better than that.  But the part about it being hard to be humble – we might as well say it’s almost impossible to be humble all the time.  Or, even most of the time.  Why is that?

Well, we don’t see very many examples of humility in our world today – it’s very pride-oriented.  All we have to do is look at the egos of those running for political office, or the actions of many of the people in professional sports or the entertainment industry to see powerful egos at work.  (Not everyone – there are a FEW humble sports figures.) And we want to share in their glory – we say that we are PROUD to be Americans or we seek to join groups or organization that we think are important to others.

And we are proud of the accomplishments of our children, or even of our friends and co-workers; and we often equate pride with that good feeling we get whenever we do something good for someone else.  Is that so bad?  Can we be humble while still feeling pride in ourselves or those around us?  Yes, if we recognize the source as coming from God.

In his book, “How to be Somebody”, Mark Mendes points out that the virtue of humility can be especially difficult to develop since it requires us to overcome the vice of pride, the deadliest of the seven deadly sins.  And Mendes’ book is full of examples of how the saints and others lived humble lives and it has many prayers and quotes from them on how they worked be humble before God.  If humility is the opposite of pride, then we must find ways to become humble.  Jesus points out over and over again that humility is the key to get into heaven.   

But most of us want to be a SOMEBODY.  And while I’m sure we’ve all done things we are NOT proud of, each of us usually has at least one thing in our life that we brag about, whether it is something to do with what we have or what we’ve done.  And we often depend on recognition of our accomplishments to get ahead and “succeed” in the world.  Often our sense of self-worth comes from whatever it is that we are “proud” of.

It IS hard to be humble.  But, we are NOT perfect.  And we need to work at overcoming our pride. In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives us two lessons in humility that we can learn from – one has to do with who we think we ARE and how we think we should be treated, and one about rewards for what we DO and how we should treat others. 

The first, the example of the seating at a banquet, is a warning about having a false sense of self-worth, of thinking too much of ourselves in comparison with others.  When we go out somewhere, don’t we position ourselves in relation to others, especially as a group – maybe because we want to sit beside someone? Or, do we become indignant when someone cuts in front of us in line at a store, or cuts us off driving? How often do we resent how we are treated by others because it isn’t FAIR or they don’t understand “our” rights?  If things don’t go our way do we become embarrassed or angry? When we judge ourselves in relationship to others and how they treat us and we don’t recognize that our true value in life comes from being a child of God, then we risk becoming angry or resentful; or worse, we risk entering into a state of depression or despair whenever our false sense of self-worth fails us.

The second example is one of earning rewards. When we do something good for someone else, don’t we want someone to say “thank you” or make some other kind of acknowledgment of our actions?  Jesus is warning us about becoming part of a “mutual admiration society” where we exchange “gifts” with those who really don’t benefit from them while those who are in need go without.  While we are created equal in the eyes of God, we are not created equal in our earthly situations.  God expects us whom He has blessed to help others in need, and if we focus on gaining earthly rewards, then we risk losing our heavenly ones.

I wonder – are the saints horrified when we name something after them?  How many buildings should be named, “Anonymous”?  In one of the many biographies of Mother Teresa, who will be canonized next Sunday, she said that she was always worried that people would think too highly of her and her accomplishments.  She always said that it wasn’t her; that it was God who accomplished everything and she just happened to be the poor instrument that He used at times. Do we have that same attitude of acknowledgment to God whenever we do something that deserves recognition?

There is prayer called The Litany of Humility.  It is divided into three parts: in the first we pray for Jesus’ help to overcome our desires; in the second we for Jesus’ help to overcome our fears; and in the third we pray for grace to desire actions of humility.  I hate the prayer because it makes me very uncomfortable, but maybe that’s the first step for me to become more humble.  Maybe it can help you, too.  “The Litany of Humility.”

Mac Davis’ song ends with, “But I’m doing the best that I can.” That is our challenge; that is the question we must ask ourselves: Are we doing the best that we can? With God’s help and Mercy, we can.