22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Being Humble

I opened up my journal this morning, and right away saw a verse that related very nicely to last week's Readings on salvation. Then I saw that there was only 1 Reading and the Gospel on the page. It was then I realized that I had started reading tomorrow's Readings...Oops. And that is why this blog is called "The Not So Perfect Catholic".
After I flipped the page and started reading the correct Readings, there was a line that jumped out at me: "and alms attone for sins." (Sir 3:29) As I've said before, I'm not a theologian, and I have a tremendous amount to learn, but, I wondered if that was where the early church got the idea that they can buy their way into heaven?
The Gospel goes on to tell us that we have to be humble in order to get that prize. Here we have Jesus, who was no doubt invited to the dinner just so the guests could look at him a little closer and see what this guy was all about. But then, Jesus turns the table on these people who were probably invited to the dinner because of who they were, and their status in the community. Jesus stressed that it's necessary for us to be humble, and not be caught up in human rewards, honors, and status. ePriest says that "humility brings discontent and conflict; human rewards are limited in time and quantity; they can't satisfy our soul." We are to "trust in the Lord- don't seek to be rewarded in earthly things." 
Today's world is all about ME. We try to fulfill our happiness with material things; things that make us feel good at the moment. Jesus offers us eternal happiness- as long as we can center our lives around Him.
As I listened to the Deacon begin to read the Gospel, this thought came to me: We are to humble ourselves so we are invited to sit by God in everlasting life. I was reminded of the time when a friend asked me to think about being a Eucharistic Minister. I told her that I didn't think I was worthy enough to even touch the host, much less distribute the body and blood of Christ. Her response: None of us are. Shortly after that, I became a Eucharistic Minister.
The Priest began his Homily with the quote at the beginning of this post. He then asked why is humility so important? Our hearts must have the right disposition; there is "no room for God in a heart that is full of himself". Wow. I'm not sure if he came up with that on his own, but if he did, just...WOW. 
Father ended the Homily by saying that we must pray for the humility to be led where God wants us, and use our gifts to serve Him. We are to conduct our affairs with humility throughout our week. We are all called to different vocations; God has given us gifts for those vocations. I have to remind myself of this often: We are to use those gifts for the glory of God; not for accolades for ourselves. 
I'm not sure if anyone else does this, but there are times when I read the Readings and a song pops into my head. This morning, I couldn't get this one out of my head:

Have a fantastic week! Go out and fulfill your obligations...giving all the glory to God!