Today I have a series of questions for you. First of all: how many of you know what a “power saw” is? Yes, raise your hand. Yes, a power saw is a saw that is powered by gasoline or by electricity. How about a “power breakfast?” Do you know what that is? Again, you can raise your hand, if you know the answer. No, it’s not a complete breakfast with all of the nutritious foods that give you power. And it’s not run by gasoline or electricity. It’s an early morning business meeting where important events are discussed. And here’s your final question: what is a “power table?” How many of you think you know the answer?
I admit I did not know what a “power table” was until a couple weeks ago. If I had to guess, I would have said that it’s a math table that shows the values for the squares and cubes of numbers, since you talk about numbers being raised to higher “powers” – like 2-squared is 2 to the second power or 2-cubed is 2 to the third power. But as I learned, power tables have nothing to do with mathematics.
I came across the term in an article about a contest in which you could win a dinner with Larry King of CNN. Larry King said he would take the winner to one of the major restaurants in Washington, D.C. and they would sit at a “power table.” A power table, according to that article, is the table in a restaurant where everyone can see you. It’s located so that all the important people have to go by your table and you can be seen speaking with them. A “power table,” evidently, is the place to sit, if you want others to see just how powerful you are.
Well, “power tables” aren’t new. They go all the way back to Biblical times. In our Gospel Reading for today, the pharisees knew all about “power tables.” Jesus knew about them too; and wasn’t very impressed by them. He urged that people choose lesser positions so that they can be asked to join the power table, rather than be asked to sit by the door to the kitchen.
So if you go to a fancy restaurant for dinner and are a “good Christian,” are you suppose to choose the table next to the kitchen or the one hidden by palm trees? Does the Gospel Reading urge us to appear to be humble, so we can be rewarded because of our humbleness? At first glance, some might interpret today’s gospel that way. But Jesus did not end his parable there.
If he had stopped telling his story to the pharisees at that point, we might be encouraged to participate in what might be called the “Cinderella syndrome.1” We might spend our lives sitting around in the ashes, toiling away, just waiting for a Prince Charming to drop by with a glass slipper that would turn us into our true selves, a royal person who would live happily-ever-after.
But Jesus does not encourage a sense of false humility, of trying to be noticed by not being noticed. Rather he focuses on a sense of true humility. And what is true humility? It is the ability to know one’s own true self-worth and the self-worth of other human beings and, in the process, to recognize that each one of us has equal worth as a child of God. It is recognizing my own talents and gifts and the talents and gifts God has given to every other person I meet.
The beggars who are well-clothed; but need the comfort and warmth of my love. The lame who run from every fear; but need the encouragement of my faith. The blind who see only despair and anger; but need the light of my hope. Jesus urges us to invite these beggars, these lame, these blind to share our love, our faith and our hope.
And why are we to do this? Is it to gain a reward either here on earth or in the hereafter of heaven? Or do we do what we do, because it is the right thing to do, because in our true humility, we acknowledge that we are all the same – brothers and sisters of one father – and we are called to share what we have with our brothers and sisters.
Why do you give a present to your spouse? Do you do it out of love or because you expect something nice in return? Why do kids clean up their room without being asked? Do you do it out of love for your parents or because you expect an increase in your allowance? Why do you contribute time and money to the poor and homeless? Do you do it out of love for those in need or because you hope it will reduce crime in the streets?
Today’s Gospel Reading does not urge us to don an attitude of humility in order to gain some pay-back, some power over others. Rather, this gospel, this Good News, encourages us to recognize our equality and our mutual needs. Jesus wants us to help others without asking: what’s in it for ourselves. By not asking: what’s the pay-back? How much do I gain from what I give?
This weekend we celebrate a national holiday in honor of labor, in honor of honest work. This day comes from an earlier time when labor unions were important in the life of workers. A time when it was seen that people had to work together in order to obtain what we considered to be the good things of life. It was also a time of cooperation, of knowing that, together, we could solve the problems of the world and have a better life for us and our children. It is a time that many believe is now gone forever.
Yet, is it possible that we can return to such a time? What if we put into practice what Jesus has taught? What might occur if we help others without expecting a return on our investment? Are we not asked to give as freely to others as God has given his gifts to each one of us?
A few minutes ago, I asked you about a “power table.” For Christians, for Catholic Christians, there is only one “power table” and that is the table around which we now gather. For it is this Eucharistic table that empowers each one of us to love our neighbor as our self, to give without a demand for a return. The power we seek is, indeed, the power of God’s love.
Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time; September 3, 1995 (Labor Day)
Sir 3:17-18, 10, 28029; Heb 12:18-19, 21-24a: Lk 14:1, 7-14
- Nine years later, this “Cinderella Syndrome” became the topic for its own homily. Although the central focus of both homilies is the same: “false humility” and true humility of service, the beginnings and endings are sufficiently different to “warrant” keeping both versions as separate homilies. The one for 1995 was given for a Labor Day weekend, the modification of 2004 for Ministry Fair weekend of the Stewardship series of homilies