"Humbe yourself the more, the greater you are"

The first reading for this Sunday is from the book of Sirach 3:17-18,20,28-29:

My child, conduct your affairs with humility and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts. Humble yourself the more the greater you are, and you will find favor with God."
I like the first two verses and used them for prayer. Humility means that I recognize who I am before God and others, too. It is so easy to forget that I am merely a branch on the true Vine and without Jesus I can do nothing. I think that one reason Jesus told the Apostles that unless they became like little children they could not enter the Kingdom of God was that a child is humble, simple, and lives very much in the present moment. I like what Jesus says in today's Gospel: "Do not recline at table in the place of honor." He says rather, "when you are invited, go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say,'My friend, move up'... For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."