Recently at Mass we heard three of the young people of the parish make an appeal on behalf of their participation in "Relay for Life". It is a fund-raising event for Cancer research and to support those affected by cancer. Over 600 people took part in walk on the Nambour Showgrounds last weekend. It was notable that over a quarter of the participants were associated with this Parish, St John's and St Joseph's School. Much of the energy that makes it happen each year is due to the leadership of people in our midst. They do not do it under the banner of Church or School. They do it as a wonderful witness in the name of love.

To highlight this is not to pat ourselves on the back. Those involved would not want that. They are people who have been touched by cancer in one way or another. Rather, it is to emphasise that to be a Christian in the world one does not always have to wear it on one's sleeve. Quiet service of others in all humility is paramount. In that event and in many others like it in our town, both small and hidden, you are proclaiming the Kingdom of God.

Our reading today omits the reason that Jesus told the parable at this meal on a Sabbath. There was a man who had dropsy. "Dropsy" is an old term for a swelling of soft tissue in the body due to an accumulation of fluid. Because the Pharisees were watching him closely he asked, "Is is lawful to cure people on the Sabbath or not?" They were silent so Jesus cured the man who had the dropsy and sent him off. The Sabbath in Hebrew thought is a time for celebrating the fullness of life given by God and it's renewal. The Pharisees, however, had made it a time of exclusion for those who did not have that wholeness because of illness or poverty. Jesus notices that the Sabbath meal had become a time for entrenching those divisions between people. It was a time of self promotion and observing the correct pecking order in society. So he goes on to tell the parable we heard.

The parable is not simply a morality tale urging us to be humble. Humility is certainly an important Christian virtue. Here, as always, Jesus is preaching the Kingdom of God. God's reign reverses all the traditions and biases by which the world keeps people in their place. He is not suggesting that we should scheme to get to the higher place by deliberately taking a lower place. The story is addressed to people who think, as we all often do, that life is all about me! That it is my position, my wealth, my ideas, my place in the world that counts. Taken to extremes this means that we climb over and trample on the weak to get the best place for myself. The Kingdom of God reverses this way of thinking. That reversal is well described in Mary's Magnificat at the beginning of Luke where it sets the agenda for the whole Gospel.

"His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty" (Luke 1:50-53).

Or as our first reading puts it, "The greater you are, the more you should behave humbly" (Ecclesiasticus 3:18).

The kind of thinking Jesus challenges is well illustrated by the sexual politics as spelt out in the lyrics of some popular songs and TV shows. If you desire someone it does not matter about anyone else. The other may be already in a relationship of some kind. That is not an issue. Anyone in the way can be freely dispensed with. The only necessary justification for my behaviour, it seems, is my desire. This is all presented in a most romantic and appealing way. The wonder is that so many of our young people do negotiate that jungle of values successfully choosing a better path. But not always without pain.

That pain is worth it, however. If we do put the needs of the other first then you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. Seeking only one's own desires brings joy neither in this world nor in the next. This is the humility Jesus asks for. The Eucharistic banquet we celebrate is a rehearsal for that heavenly banquet. Here all are invited to the Table of the Lord. It is also a rehearsal for the way we respect and reverence the least of God's children every day.