There’s a true story about a famous football quarterback who was dining in a restaurant. He noticed a little boy eagerly coming to his table. The star player quickly reached for the menu, signed his autograph on it, and handed it to the child, smiling contentedly. Puzzled, the child looked at the famous quarterback as he was thrusting the menu at him and said: “No thanks, mister. I just want to borrow your ketchup.”

The star quarterback was dealt an unexpected lesson on humility. By a child, no less.

Humility, it has been said, is the truth. It is the truth concerning ourselves, about our strengths and weaknesses, about the pull of selfishness and egoism that lies buried within the best of us. It is the truth about our need for God to raise us up, to shield us from evil, and to lead us in His way of goodness.

Humility is at the heart of Jesus’s teaching. It is the first beatitude, “blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). People who approached Jesus with humility such as a blind beggar, a poor widow, a Roman official, a publican or a woman in distress were never turned away by Him. They all received His gift of healing .

Jesus was critical of people who trampled humility underfoot, the kind of people who jockeyed for the seats of honor in the house or at a banquet. No wonder He was upset by their antics which were a far cry from the words of Sirach, “my son, conduct your affairs with humility, and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts” (Sirach 3:17).

Is it any wonder then that Jesus had to put these people in their place? To know one’s place and to act accordingly are attributes of a humble person. If people only knew their place, they would, as Jesus pointed out, take the “lowest place” and wait until the host decided if they should “move up to a higher position.”

The gospel sets a new standard in human relationships by invoking humility as a condition of God’s favor. It challenges us to reach out and invite every kind of person to a place at the table of the Lord’s kingdom, no matter what their class or social distinction. What could be more forthright and challenging than the following statement of Jesus: “Whenever you have a reception, invite beggars and the crippled, the lame and the blind. You should be pleased that they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid in the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:13–14).

Humility is best exemplified by Jesus Himself who, though He was the Son of God, came to serve and not to be served. The lesson here is that we must always endeavor to act with humility, no matter what our position or accomplishments in life. It means knowing we are so dependent and needy that we ought to live with open hands and an open heart waiting to be filled.

Only then can you be healed when you know you need it, only then can you show empathy to others when you have experienced God’s mercy yourself.

This is why Jesus says: “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11).

—Fr. Hugh Duffy