Philippians 1:18-26 / Luke 14:1, 7-11
Usually when we talk of a dilemma, we are probably talking about a problem offering two possibilities, neither of which is practically acceptable.
In other words, in our minds, it is the the worst case scenario with two choices. The imagery would be like that of a choice of a crash landing on a rock or on a hard ground.
In the dilemmas of life, when life seems like a mess of rotten scrambled eggs, what come to the minds of people would be to press the self-destruct button and end it all.
In the 1st reading, St. Paul spoke of a dilemma. But it was a very different kind of dilemma in that there were two options or possibilities and both of which were good for him.
It was like a best case scenario, in that life to him is Christ and death would mean that he would be forever with Christ.
He would want to be forever with Christ but he also thought that to stay alive on this earth would be a more urgent need for the sake of the community.
Whichever way it goes, what made him happy was that Christ is proclaimed and that he will also receive the fruits of salvation - it was a happy dilemma for him.
And from the parable that Jesus told in the gospel we know this truth about life. When we want to exalt ourselves we end up in the dilemma of the worst case scenario - either embarrassment or humiliation
But when we humble ourselves we will have the "dilemma" of the best case scenario. So to be humble or want to be exalted is our choice, but we will have to face the dilemma of our choice.