September 2, 2001

At the coronation of Edward VIII, the city of London was filled with dignitaries from across the world. Alfred Deaker was one of them. When he returned home to New Zealand, he was asked what made the most lasting impression. He thought for a moment before he replied. One night, returning from a gala dinner, he passed by an alley where he saw a boy of twelve was sitting with his arm around a girl who couldn't have been more than three. The air was cole and he watched the boy take off his jacket and wrap it around the little girl's shoulders. The boy then removed his hat and placed it around her feet. Deaker said he traveled for 14,000 miles to witness a coronation, but the most "EXALTED" event he witnessed occurred in that alley off a London street.

The story is told of a priest who was a brilliant scholar and an extraordinary lecturer. His one concern of life was the position he would hold at God's eternal banquet. One night, in a dream, an angel revealed that he should expect to be seated next to the butcher. The priest was aghast. Surely a mistake, he thought. He decided to set out to see this butcher who would be his companion for all eternity. As he traveled he thought to himself that perhaps this butcher was really a man of great distinction who had fallen in hard times and was temporarily forced to cut meat for a living. With that thought, he tried to console himself.

The priest found the butcher working quietly at his trade. He asked him if he had been a butcher all his life. The butcher replied yes, I have been, but I am a second rate butcher. You see I have not had much time to devote to my trade. I have two elderly parents and they are very helpless in the daily tasks of life. As a result, much of my time is consumed in their care. Every day I must bathe them, clothe them and feed them. And, there is the cleaning and washing of clothes.

The priest, with tears in his eyes, knelt down, kissed the rough hands of the butcher and thanked God for giving him a place in heaven next to a man of such great distinction.

In our Gospel today Jesus states: "Those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted!" Engaged in humble service, the butcher and the boy in the alley very humbly cared for people in their need, and for that they could be named as two individuals of "EXALTED" distinction.

SO THE QUESTION: WHAT KINDS OF HUMBLE SERVICE DESERVE THE HIGHEST RESPECT AND DISTINCTION?

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