Saturday, 30th Week in Ordinary Time, November 4, 2023

Fr. Rick’s Gospel Reflection for Saturday, 30th Week in Ordinary Time,
November 4, 2023, Luke 14: 1, 7-11
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110423.cfm

St. Teresa of Calcutta Ways to Practice Holiness.

Unlike the Bucs, there are plenty of open seats at a Tampa Bay Rays game. Moving closer to the field and sitting in a seat you didn’t purchase is so easy. How embarrassing when someone comes along with their ticket, and you go up to another seat, not your own. Well, everyone does it, or so you think.

So here is Jesus walking into a Pharisee’s home, and the first thing He spots are people trying to sit in a better seat closer to the head of the table. In the eyes of others, honor was everything in Jesus’s culture, equivalent to the value our culture puts on wealth, status, and power. On the other hand, humility is a doorway for God to reach others through us.

The Gospel Challenge:

Healthy humility is a deliberate choice we make every day. It is hard for someone to beat Mother Teresa’s humility list, and here are a few of her top best ways to practice holiness.

1. Speak as little as possible about yourself. Tip: Ask others about their day and take time to listen.

2. Keep busy with your affairs and not those of others.

3. Avoid curiosity. *She’s talking about being nosey…the bad kind of curiosity!

4. Do not interfere with the affairs of others, which reminds me of how harmful gossip is!

5. Accept small irritations with good humor.

6. Do not dwell on the faults of others. When I do this, I forget the GOOD in people and that they’re a child of God, too!

7. Give into the will of others. Because "my way or the highway" isn’t a humble attitude.

8. Accept insults and injuries. (Instead of fighting back or "getting even" someday.)

9. Accept contempt, being forgotten and disregarded.

10. Be courteous and delicate even when provoked by someone. My mom used to say: "If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.)

11. Give in discussions, even when you are right. (Tip: Know when to walk away or "stop responding." I think this can be hard and require extra prayers.)

12. Finally, always choose the more difficult task. "NEEDED TO HEAR THIS. I tend to look for the easy way…and it’s not always the best way.

Humility is not thinking less of ourselves for whatever reason, but humility is thinking of ourselves less for the good of others. It is a deliberate choice to put others before ourselves and their needs before our wants. Try it. It is never easy but always fulfilling.

IGNITE THE FIRE.

God bless you, my friends.
Fr. Rick Pilger, I.C.
www.bscchurch.com

or .

Fr. Rick Pilger, I.C.

Pastor

Blessed Sacrament Church

11565 66th Ave.

Seminole, FL 33772

727-391-4661

pastor

www.bscchurch.com