L.J. shares the following reflection on Sunday's reading from the Gospel according to Luke:
Jesus tells the guests to “take the lowest place.” He also says “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” The lowest and humblest place is nothingness. Jesus is teaching the way of the cross, which is the way of joy. The way of the cross is nothingness, which is non-resistance, non-retention, and non-reaction. When we stop resisting, retaining and reacting we become silent and still enough to discover and enjoy the blissful nothingness of God within. We realize the happiness we have always had.
Think back to the last great party or dinner you attended. What made it great? Was it all the laughs you had, the deep conversation, or the amazing food? Compare it with other great parties you’ve attended to determine the best one. Perhaps it was your wedding reception or a party after a family member received a sacrament? Maybe it was a spontaneous dinner where all your favorite people showed up and it was a good, relaxing time? Keep this wonderful dinner or really fun party in mind as the image of a feast appears again in this week’s Gospel. The biblical feast hopefully conjures the feelings and experiences of a great get-together. The feast remains the symbol of enjoying the ecstatic happiness of the God within.
Besides food, laughter is the main ingredient in a good get-together. With my friends that usually means we make fun of each other. No one is spared, and no joke is too bad to tell. The laughs come either way. Something similar is happening in today’s Gospel. Jesus comes to a banquet at a Pharisee’s house. He sees the guests jockeying for a better seat. It is as if Jesus quips, “You better take a bad seat so that the host can say, ‘Oh my how did you get here. You’re too important for such a lowly seat. Come up here for a better one.’” He is making fun of both the host and the guests. Jesus and the party guests live in an honor and shame culture, which is a society where reputation is everything. Jesus uses humor to point out how ridiculous everyone is acting because they’re really concerned about their reputation. Having a good reputation is yet another mistaken idea about happiness.
Getting or maintaining a good reputation by getting a good seat at a banquet is not only a phenomenon of Jesus’ time. We do the same, and sometimes literally. We jockey for good positions or change situations to suit our needs. We try to get more power or more money to make our lives better. All these actions are similar in kind to the machinations of the guests at the Pharisee’s banquet. Each action is a false attempt at being happy. None of them are giving us true joy in any lasting way.
We chase after these things because we feel unhappy. Why are we so unhappy? I asked myself this the other day while watching my kids. I was thinking about how much work is involved in caring for Amelia (9), Therese (6), and the twins, Rachel and Joseph (3). Then I realized I felt a bit unhappy with all the work I had to do. I asked myself why I felt unhappy. I realized it was because I resisted the moment, clung to some fleeting pleasure, or reacted to getting or not getting something I wanted. I was not happy because I was resisting, retaining, and reacting. I suspect the same is true for all of us.
Jesus tells the guests to “take the lowest place.” He also says “every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” The lowest place is nothingness. The humble one is nothing. Even though he’s being humorous, Jesus still teaches the guests the way of the cross. Those in the lowest place as well as the humble are those who have abandoned themselves and their ideas of happiness. Meister Eckhart says, “Whoever has abandoned self and completely gone forth from self, for him nothing could be a cross or pain or suffering: it would all be a joy.” The way of the cross is the way of joy. The way of the cross is nothingness, which is non-resistance, non-retention, non-reaction. When we stop resisting, retaining, and reacting we become silent and still enough to discover and enjoy the blissful nothingness of God within. We realize the happiness we have always had.
The happy people I have met always make me happy. It is like everyone around them rises to their level. Often, negative emotions dissipate in the presence of joyful people. Happy, holy people spread their joy, particularly to those who are miserable. They demonstrate how our happiness translates into spreading joy to the oppressed and poor. We do this by being generous like God. God is joyful and so gives without measure. Happy people do the same. This is why Jesus tells the guests at the Pharisee’s house to hold a party for the poor. The dinner for the poor who can't repay the kindness symbolizes God giving us divine happiness without us doing anything to deserve it. It is a symbol of gratuitousness. Any act we do gratuitously on behalf of the poor is divine. It spreads God’s happiness to those who need it most.