22nd sunday-C

22nd Sunday-C 

Experiencing Exaltation. 

Last weekend, I was at one of the parishes in the city and as I was preaching about how to enter through the narrow doo, I said that in order to enter through the narrow door, one must make himself ‘small’. Then I said in my case, I don’t need to do anything because I am already small. Then a lady fainted. I think it happens only in the city. 

Dear Friends in Christ Jesus, 

God Almighty sacrificed His only Son to give us life. Christ who was born poor, lived poor and died on the cross was not only human, He was also divine. He is the only son of God. He humbled Himself and thus God exalted Him above all else. Today more than billion people are experiencing His wonders and miracles every day and it's all because of His humility. 

1. As we reflect on the coming of Christ our Lord as human and living among us, the first thing will happen to us is exaltation. Christ humbled Himself so that we could be exalted. It’s the time to experience exaltation. There are so many believers today, in the name of humility, hide themselves from the presence of crowd and they don’t even have the will power to talk about Christ and His presence among us. The non-believes are so certain of what they say and do but only believers are so uncertain of what they believe. Jesus humbled himself for us and let us experience heaven on earth, let us humble before Him and experience exaltation. 

2. Once Isaac Newton said, “I am like a boy playing on the seashore collecting pebbles and seashells while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me”. God whom we call Father created everything out of nothing. All the living and non-living and seen and unseen were created only by Him.  

As we look around all the beauty in the world, the sun and the moon, the stars and the ocean, we feel so much expansion in us. It’s because our Father created all and He created us too, but He created us in His own image and likeness and He gave the courage to call God our Father, so let us be with Christ and experience exaltation and be proud to be good followers of Christ. Only a good follower can know the value of humility and Humility means knowing the richness of our Father and spread the good news to all. Humility is not thinking less of yourself. It’s only thinking yourself less.  

In today’s gospel, Jesus is directly talking to the pharisees who seek place of honor and want to be recognized in the presence of others. He is talking about the pharisees who invite only influential and prominent people to their celebration.  

On the other hand, He asks us to consider everyone important. It is because everyone is important in the sight of God and everyone is made in the image and likeness of God. 

Those who humble themselves in the presence of God and others will definitely be exalted and that exaltation will bring them more happiness, joy and prosperity. So, let us recognize ourselves in the presence of God and experience exaltation. God bless. Amen.