From the Pharisee's Table to the Heart of Ministry

Humility and Charity in the Education and Evangelization of Young People

Message of the Rector Major Fr. Fabio Attard, SDB

In chapter 14 of St. Luke’s Gospel, we find the account in which Jesus accepts an invitation to dine at the home of an important Pharisee. Jesus enters a space thick with social calculations and feigned religious attitudes wherein the dinner becomes a theater of human ambition, with guests competing for places that reflect their perceived status and importance.

Jesus, always a keen observer of human nature, transforms this moment of social maneuvering into a profound teaching on the very foundations of Christian discipleship.

Let us try to understand how this situation speaks to us who are engaged in the education and evangelization of young people. How often we too find ourselves conditioned by certain traits that Jesus calls by name: the subtle competition for recognition and influence and the desire to appear as the best of all. I believe that the Pharisee’s supper becomes a mirror for our ministerial and pastoral realities, challenging us to examine our motivations, our methods, and our daily choices.

The Problem: Illusions of Preeminence

Jesus notes how the guests choose places of honor, revealing a fundamental human tendency that goes far beyond dining etiquette. This race for the places of honor exposes what we might call the “illusion of preeminence”—the false belief that our worth and effectiveness are measured by the recognition, status, and honors that others bestow upon us.

It is an illusion that is also a trap for us educators involved in youth ministry. It is a temptation that manifests itself in numerous ways. We may find ourselves seeking appreciation from parents, recognition from administrators, or gratitude from students. We may subconsciously compete with colleagues to be named the “most effective teacher” or to be regarded as the “youth worker whom everyone loves.” The desire for preeminence can infiltrate our mission in a subtle way, transforming what should be selfless service into “performance” and following one’s own agenda.

Let us not forget that the illusion of preeminence is particularly dangerous when working with young people for they possess a keen sensitivity as regards authenticity and immediately perceive when adults use them as a means for personal validation rather than investing themselves totally in their integral growth. When we operate from the illusion of preeminence, we inadvertently teach young people that relationships are transactional and utilitarian; that love is to be earned through performance; and that others are stepping-stones for our personal ambitions.

The First Lesson: Choosing the Last Place

Jesus’ instruction to take the lowest place rather than presume honor represents more than a social strategy—it requires a fundamental reorientation of the heart. True humility is not self-deprecation or false modesty, but rather an accurate understanding of our position before God and in relation to others.

In educational and pastoral realities, choosing the last place means approaching young people without the presumption that our age, experience, or position automatically grants us authority or respect. It means being willing to learn from them, being surprised by their insights, and recognizing that we do not have all the answers. This humility creates space for the emergence of an authentic relationship.

When we choose the last place, we model for our young people what it means to live without the constant need for external validation, something very common today in the age of social networks. We show that our identity and worth do not depend on recognition or success, but stem from our relationship with God, which brings forth healthy choices that benefit others. This becomes particularly powerful for teens, who are often trapped in cycles of performance anxiety and peer comparisons.

The Second Lesson: Practical Charity

Jesus then moves from commenting on personal humility to a proposal of structural charity: inviting “the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind” rather than those who can reciprocate represents a radical shift in the nature of a relationship—one based on giving, not exchanging.

Too often, our energy and attention gravitate toward young people who are easier to deal with, who are more responsive to our efforts, or who make us appear successful. We naturally invest in relationships that provide positive feedback and visible results.

Jesus calls us to a completely different reasoning. He challenges us to seek out those who cannot increase our reputation or advance our programs—the struggling student, the socially-awkward adolescent, the young person with a difficult background, the one whose questions challenge our comfortable assumptions. These are the ones who most need our time and attention and who can teach us best about the nature of unconditional love.

Humility and Charity: Two Movements of the Same Heart

The genius of Jesus’ teaching lies in linking these two movements—personal humility and practical charity—as expressions of the same spiritual reality. Humility without charity remains self-centered, with the potential to become a form of spiritual pride. Charity without humility can become patronizing or manipulative, serving our need to feel useful rather than genuinely meeting the needs of others.

True humility opens us up to regard young people not as “projects” to be fixed or “raw material” for our programs, but as beloved children of God with inherent dignity and unique gifts. This recognition naturally leads to charitable action—not charity as pity or condescension, but charity as the recognition of our fundamental interconnectedness and need for each other.

Conclusion: The Radical Invitation

Jesus’ teaching at the Pharisee’s supper issues a radical invitation to all of us: to find our identity not in the recognition we receive but in the love we give, not in the honors bestowed upon us but in our faithful service to those who cannot repay us. For educators and workers among youth, this invitation becomes both a challenge and a promise—the challenge to examine our deepest motivations, and the conviction that faithful service, even when unnoticed or unappreciated, participates in God's transforming work in the world.

By choosing humility and practicing charity, not only do we serve young people more fruitfully but we also incarnate the very Gospel that we seek to share. We become living witnesses of an original way, where greatness is found in service, beauty in self-giving, and tangible joy in the flourishing of others. This is the most powerful evangelization of all: lives that bear witness, with joyful humility and genuine charity, to the reality they proclaim.