PERKS OF THE HUMBLE - C: 22nd Sun in OrdTime

First Reading: Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29 (28 August 2022)

“The greater you are, the more you must humble yourself; so you will find favor in the sight of the Lord. For great is the might of the Lord; but by the humble he is glorified” (Sir 3:18, 20).

This statement of Sirach indicates the ironical nature of greatness and humility. Under normal circumstances in the Ancient Near East culture, somebody who is proud should banner his/her deeds to the public since doing so would not only bring fame to him/herself but give glory to the family s/he belongs as well. This dynamic is understandable in an environment where close family ties are maintained. The Israelites were under this precise social context, where they would highly honor the name of the house of Israel. In converse, any shameful act by any of them would bring lasting shame to its integrity.

By subscribing to Yhwh as their only God, the Israelites were most probably seeking for a divine entity that could help catapult the exaltation of their collective prestige ahead of other contemporaneous people, clans, and nations.

The paradox, however, is that Yhwh would not think as they do. For him, the opposite would transpire instead: the humble one is more exalted and pleasing to God. This concept of accepting openly humiliation would definitely not be attractive to anybody. Why must someone humble him/herself after having won and gained his/her prized laurels? The reason given by Ben Sirach in our first reading is that the humble “will find favor in the sight of the Lord” (v. 18). Meanwhile, it appears here that this prize of the humble would only arrive in the distant future, probably in the afterlife when one would be rewarded with eternal bliss in God’s heavenly abode. But are there really no perks given to the humble in this earthly life?

The biblical passage cited in the first four lines above refers to verses 18 and 20 of the third chapter of book of Sirach. Noticeably, verse 19 is missing. The biblical editors probably thought that v. 19 should not be included in the final text of Sirach, given that its ancient manuscript is textually and/or physically corrupted due to the long passage of time. To fill up this void, some ancient documents (e.g., Codex Sinaiticus) supplied the missing text of v. 19 with the statement: “Many are lofty and renowned, but to the humble he reveals his secrets.” If merit is given to this insertion, it can be said that

the humble do have some incentives here on earth, i.e., they would know God’s secrets since he would reveal himself to them.

This fact calls to mind Jesus’s thanksgiving prayer in the Gospel of Matthew, saying, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants” (Mt 11:25). Incidentally, the point that the humble are considered infants connects the vocative formula “my child” in Sir 3:17: “My child, perform your task with humility; then you will be loved by those whom God accepts.” Hence, the main reason why the humble are given this privilege to know about God’s secrets is that they are being regarded as the very children of God. In other words, being humble in one’s ways is not only pleasing to God;

it paves the way, too, for the humble to be pedestalled as God’s own children, to whom he could share his secrets and even eternal happiness in heaven.

- Rex Fortes, CM