Where our true dignity is found

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

AT one time, Christ told this parable about how to behave when invited to some special event. “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, 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.” (Lk 14,8-9)

He is obviously telling us that we should avoid feeling entitled and privileged because of some position or status we enjoy in life. We should rather try to pass unnoticed, always concerned with doing a lot of good and with the eagerness to serve anyone and everyone.

This way we would be imitating Christ who is the very pattern of our humanity and the savior of our damaged humanity. And with him, we would already have everything we truly need. We would have no more need for any earthly consolation or compensation. It is with him that we have our true dignity.

We should therefore be wary of the earthly dynamic and culture that tends to tempt us to feel entitled and privileged. Rather, when honors and praises come our way because of some accomplishments we made, we should feel all the more humble and more eager to serve.

That’s because, as Christ said, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.” (Lk 12,48)

This way, we live out what Christ himself very clearly indicated as the proper way to go for us. “Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted,” he said. (Mt 23,12)

To be sure, when we are truly with Christ, we would have everything already. We would have no need for any earthly reward. If we do not feel this way yet, it would be a clear indication that we are not yet with Christ. We would just be playing our own game, not God’s real plan for us.

We therefore should do everything to acquire, develop and enrich in ourselves this attitude of wanting to serve and not to be served. Let us also try to inspire and inculcate this attitude in others, considering that the prevailing world culture today is practically promoting egoism, pride, vanity and the like.

We need to acquire the mentality of a servant which is actually the mentality of Christ himself. Let us readjust our human standards to conform to what is actually proper to us as taught and lived by Christ. We usually look down on the status of servants. This has to change! We should be convinced that by becoming a servant we would be making ourselves like Christ.

With God’s grace, let us exert the effort to overcome the understandable awkwardness and tension involved in blending the natural and the supernatural aspects of this affair, as well as the expected resistance we can give, due to the effects of our sins.

We can make use of our daily events to cultivate this attitude. For example, as soon as we wake up from sleep in the morning, perhaps the first thing we have to do is address ourselves to God and say “Serviam” (I will serve). It’s the most logical thing to do, given who God is and who we are in relation to him.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com