Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
False Humility?

It’s been months since Easter and it’s a long way to Christmas, but there seems to be a lot of rejoicing in today’s readings. Isaiah talks about rejoicing with Jerusalem. The Gospel shows the disciples rejoicing when they came back from visiting towns to tell about the Kingdom. St. Paul is happy to be suffering for Christ. So what is the reason for such joy?
The readings make clear that it is not because of what the people of Jerusalem did, or even what miracles Jesus’ disciples performed. Isaiah talks about what God will do for the people, how “the Lord’s power shall be known to his servants” (Isaiah 66:14). Jesus tells his disciples not to rejoice that they cast out demons; no, they should “rejoice because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). In other words, we are to rejoice over all the Lord has done for us, not what we have done for him.
Does that sound like false humility? Like someone receiving an Oscar who says, “I wasn’t that good—it was all that my director, my producers, my wife and children, and my dog Snoopy did.” No, when we do anything for others, we can honestly say that God does the real work. Knowing that frees us from expecting everyone to be happy, everything we do for others to be successful. When our offer of help is rejected, our prayers for a sick friend don’t seem to be working, or our good advice is ridiculed, we can be confident that God has something else planned. Instead of being discouraged, we can trust that God’s plan is working in ways we just can’t see.
Paul has a similar theme in the second reading. You would think he would be proud of all the converts he made or the people he cured. He boasts only about his suffering because that is how he is most like Jesus. He sees all of his accomplishments as the work of God, and he knows that the greatest thing Jesus did was to die for us. All three readings remind us that what changes our lives and changes the world is not how hard we work or how holy we are; what really makes the difference is how much God loves us. That is the real reason to rejoice.
Tom Schmidt

Short Version

There seems to be a lot of rejoicing in today’s readings. Isaiah talks about rejoicing with Jerusalem. The Gospel shows the disciples rejoicing when they came back from visiting towns to tell about the Kingdom. St. Paul is happy to be suffering for Christ. So what is the reason for such joy?
The readings make clear that it is not a result of our efforts. Isaiah writes that “the Lord’s power shall be known to his servants” (Isaiah 66:14). Jesus tells his disciples not to rejoice that they cast out demons, but “because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). In other words, we are to rejoice over all the Lord has done for us, not what we have done for him.
Does that sound like false humility? No; when we do anything for others, we can honestly say that God does the real work. Knowing that frees us from expecting everyone to be happy, everything we do for others to be successful. Instead of being discouraged when we seem to fail, we can trust that God’s plan is working in ways we just can’t see.
St. Paul has a similar theme in the second reading. You would think he would be proud of all the converts he made, or the people he cured.  He boasts only about his suffering because that is how he is most like Jesus. He sees all of his accomplishments as the work of God. All three readings remind us that what changes our lives and changes the world is not how hard we work, or how holy we are; what really makes the difference is how much God loves us. That is the real reason to rejoice.
Tom Schmidt