(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: https://brothersinchristcmf.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/BIC-Mass-Blog-for-the-22nd-Sunday-in-Ordinary-Time-2025.mp3)
We all inherited the right to claim God’s name as our surname: “I Am!”
“Being” is our family inheritance. It comes with the responsibility to invest it for the kind of profitable return our family’s founder expects.
Where we heirs often mess up is the first name we attach to that family name while living it. The messiest of these first names is, “Don’t You Know Who… .”
“Don’t You Know Who I Am?” is tantamount to taking God’s name in vain. Whether saying it or living it, we disrespect the spirit of “I Am” when seeking preferential treatment at any level of humanity’s societal pecking order.
In this Sunday’s gospel reading (Luke 14:1, 7-14), Jesus notices several of these types jockeying for position at the head table of the feast to which he was invited as guest of honor. To them he offered a parable about humility with this advice:
“When you are invited to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited, and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place.”
Our modern world has overcome such embarrassment, and has even built a profit factor into catering to the demands of such “Don’t You Know Who’s. Take amusement park perks, for example. For an extra fee tacked onto the price of admission, even bottom dwellers in this world’s pecking order can purchase the right to be a line skipper—advancing past others baking in the sun to take their turn on the roller coaster. The dirty looks aimed at the last who pay to be first come at no extra charge. (Line skippers of all varieties rarely pay attention to other “I Ams” anyway.)
At the top of this world’s self-serving pecking order are those with some level of fame they feel entitles them to an all-access pass into night spots or out of tight spots. When challenged by an usher seeking a ticket or a police officer dispensing one, out comes some kind of “Don’t You Know Who I Am?” membership card seeking preferential treatment (possibly supplemented with a bit of cash).
This Sunday’s other readings offer more good advice to bearers of “Don’t You Know Who I Am” cards issued at the expense of others.
The first from Sirach suggests:
My child, conduct your affairs with humility, and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts. Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with God. (Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29)
In Sunday’s second reading (Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a), Paul contrasts the two covenants our Father has made with his children to ensure we live up (not down) to the name “I Am.” The first comes with fine print catering to the legalistic instincts of our Old Testament ancestors who used Mt. Sinai’s inaccessible, cloud-covered heights to separate themselves from God. The second covenant directs God’s family to Mt. Zion, where we’re invited to join a huge and diverse gathering of relatives—all sharing equal access to God because the exorbitant price for our place in that line was paid on Calvary’s cross—at the foot of Mt. Zion.
That payment gives us the right to carry a more courteous courtesy card bearing our family name. No line jumping necessary or allowed to claim it. It’s engraved in the hearts of those who live their lives for the good of others. It bears the same message Jesus tacked onto the end of his Father’s name and bequeathed to his disciples for them to share with the world: “I Am with you always.”
–Tom Andel
Wonderful message and a great reminder in a world full of “look at me” types, we are called to a higher purpose. It is incumbent on each of us to look within ourselves to realize that standard!
John the Baptist said it best when it came to letting the Holy Spirit do the work of “I AM” in us: “He must increase, I must decrease.” (John 3:30). Humility comes from the Latin word for soil, or ground. As you suggest, Mike, being grounded in Christ is to let his higher purpose grow from our dust.
The battle against pride is often our greatest challenge. From our earliest days there seems to be an inborn trait where we think we are the center of the universe, and everything revolves around ourself. I watch this with some amusement as my grandchildren negotiate over toys, or who leads the made-up games they invent on the fly. I see how easy feelings get bent when sharing becomes a competition for who gets to lead, or who gets what they want.
Most of us were no different and I find in myself the urge or desire even in my 7th decade to still want my way in things. The real victory comes when I am able to take 2nd place or accept not getting or doing what I want. It’s actually a beneficial sacrifice, but it’s what we are called to do MOST OF THE TIME, if not always.
The last shall be first? I have much work to do yet!
Our children teach us that playing with each other is a lifetime job. Our toys help us learn HOW to do it. Hopefully, as we approach the narrow gate, we’ve gotten better at it and are prepared to leave those toys behind so we can squeeze through. Maybe God will let the first help pull others in and the last help push others through.