“He who humbles himself shall be exalted”
“You spread a table before me in the sight of my foes” (Ps 23[22]:5)… What more could we desire? Why would we choose the places of honor? Whatever place we occupy, we have everything in abundance and lack nothing. But you who want to have the place of honor, whoever you might be, go and sit in the lowest place. Do not let your knowledge make your head swell with pride; do not allow yourself to be exalted by means of your reputation. Instead, the greater you are, the more you must humble yourself in everything and “you will find favor with God” (Lk 1:30), so much so that at the favorable time he will say to you: “My friend, come up higher,” and “this will win you the esteem of your fellow guests.”
Most certainly, so far as it depended on him, Moses occupied the lowest place. When the Lord wanted to send him to the children of Israel and invited him to come higher, he answered: “If you please, Lord, send someone else, for I am slow of speech.” (Ex 4:13.10) It is as though he had said: “I am not worthy of such a high function." Saul also considered himself to be a man of humble condition when the Lord made him king. And in the same way, Jeremiah, afraid to go up to the place of honor, said: “Ah, Lord God! I do not know how to speak; I am too young.” (1:6) It is thus through humility, not pride, through the virtues, not money that we must seek to occupy the place of honor.
St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori