Saturday November 4
Still “looking”! But then Jesus didn’t have his eyes closed either: he noticed how the Pharisees competed for the places of honor. But unlike them he was not motivated by malice. From this small incident at table he drew a parable of the Kingdom. (The “Kingdom” is the Presence of God.) God is visible everywhere and in everything to eyes that see.
The “take-away saying” is, “Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” This saying occurs no fewer than three other times in the gospels (Lk 18:14; Mt 18:4 and 23:12). It’s rather like the piece of wisdom I heard on the street, “Don’t be making yourself so big—you’re not that small!” (October 26). And of course, it’s like that other saying, “The last shall be first and the first shall be last” (Mk 10:31). In a way, those who exalt themselves are already humbled, and those who humble themselves are already exalted. Self-exaltation isn’t worthy of a human being; it’s a betrayal of our true dignity, “a good person never considers that he or she has advanced beyond anything,” said Tauler (October 4). It’s a bit like economic inflation, when money has less and less value because of repetitive price increases. The “price increases” in this case are when I think and talk above myself. The more common word for it is “vanity.” In Latin, these two words—inflatus and vanus—mean the same thing: empty.
