Romans 11:1-2, 11-12, 25-29 / Luke 14:1, 7-11
We may remember who Pope John XXIII was. He was affectionately known as "Good Pope John" and he even had a nickname "Johnny Walker" because he would sneak out of the Vatican in the evenings to walk around the city of Rome.
But Pope John XXIII was better known for initiating the 2nd Vatican Council in 1962 but he did not live to see its conclusion.
Pope John XXIII was a really down-to-earth person and not one for ceremonies or status-conscious.
Shortly after he became Pope, he visited the Regina Coeli Prison in Rome.
The newly elected pope, animated and clearly comfortable in this unusual setting, shared with the inmates the somewhat surprising tale of his own cousin, who had been imprisoned in the same jail after his conviction for poaching.
The official Vatican reports of the papal visit would omit this part of his talk for fear that it would cause scandal with pious and sensitive Catholics, and also that the Pope would be subjected to ridicule.
Yet it was his simple, frank and humble personality that the Church and the world began to call him the most beloved Pope of the century.
Indeed as Jesus said in the gospel, the man who humbles himself will be exalted. Yet the man who exalts himself will be humbled.
We may not be asking to be exalted, the very fear of embarrassment and failure or "lose face" can lead us to do strange and even sinful things.
But as the 1st reading puts it - Is it possible that God has rejected His people? Even the Jews are still loved by God, loved for the sake of their ancestors. God never takes back His gifts or revokes His choice.
Yes God loves us, He chose us as His own, and He will never reject or abandon us.
For that, we can only humbly give thanks and praise the Lord and know that He will always raise up the humble and lowly.