August 31, 2025
31st Sunday
Ordinary Time
FOCUS: God calls us to humble service.
Humility helps us to see ourselves clearly and not to grasp at what is beyond our strength. Both the reading from Sirach and Luke’s Gospel tell us that those who humble themselves will find favor with God. They also point to a connection between humility and service. Those who give alms – who give without expecting repayment – will receive their reward in heaven.
What's in Your Heart
-
How do I maintain a sense of healthy humility? Who helps me keep my head on straight? What do I do to avoid the twin pitfalls of self-aggrandizement or self-deprecation? Can I accept that I am a "good-enough" human being?
​
-
Jesus describes two ways to go to a banquet. One is to enjoy and participate in the feast. The other is to go to grab and secure a place of honor. In the banquet of life, am I more likely to simply enjoy the feast, or do I get trapped into not enjoying myself until I see who's got the place of honor and learn where I fit in the pecking order? What keeps me from simply being present for the "festal gathering"?
Homily Stories
When he learned of his father’s death, he was 3,000 miles away. He boarded the first plane bound for his small New England town. He led a global organization based in Rome and traveled extensively, but he rarely had time to visit his family except for Christmas and the occasional wedding. As he sat in the comfort of business class, he couldn’t remember the last time he flew economy. He was the son of Polish immigrants who worked in blue-collar jobs and went without luxuries to ensure their children had excellent educations. He and his doctor brother were the proud fruits of their labors.
Throughout the flight he thought of all the lessons he had learned from his dad about being honorable, respectful, and doing the right thing and from his mom about caring for others and keeping a clean house: “There’s only one way to scrub a floor,” she’d say, “and that’s on your hands and knees.”
Upon his arrival, he was met by a driver who called him sir and knew his travel itinerary in advance. It wasn’t long before they turned down a familiar tree-lined street of closely nestled Queen Anne style houses. There, midblock, stood his childhood home. As he opened the front door, he was met with the smell of cookies not long out of the oven and fried onions to top pierogi his mother had surely spent hours making in preparation for his homecoming and the reception after the funeral the following day.
It was late. His mother was resting. She hugged her boy so tightly he could barely breathe. She didn’t sob. That wasn’t her way. But her eyes were red and lined with circles. “So much to be done,” she said.
“Mama, go to sleep now. I am here to help,” he gently replied. He walked into the kitchen, donned an apron, filled a bucket with soap and water, got down on his hands and knees, and began scrubbing the kitchen floor.
​
First Reading
Second Reading
Gospel
Quotes
It is the greatest shame in the world to see that our Creator bears so many insults from His creatures, and that we resent even a little word that is contradictory.
—Saint Teresa of Ávila