Homage

Today we use the word homage to describe some act or work that pays respect or reverence. Originally, however, homage was the name of a ceremony in the Medieval European feudal system. “The root of homage is homo-, the Latin root meaning "man." In medieval times, a king's male subject could officially become the king's man (or vassal) by publicly announcing allegiance to the monarch in a formal ceremony. In that ritual, known as homage, the subject knelt and placed his hands between those of his lord, symbolically surrendering himself and putting himself at the lord's disposal and under his jurisdiction. A bond was thus forged between the two; the vassal's part was to revere and serve his lord, and the lord's role was to protect the vassal and his family.” (Webster’s Dictionary). We all have an opportunity to declare our allegiance to our Lord, and forge a bond between the Lord and us as His vassals. The Lord will protect us and our families just as we revere and serve Him. In fact, we can and perhaps ought to consider the Sacrament as a kind of homage, where week after week we renew our pledge to surrender ourselves to the Lord’s disposal and put ourselves under His jurisdiction. When we do this, we renew our commitment to being His vassals and can go forth for another week trying to show our reverence and respect to our Lord by serving Him in whatever capacity on which He calls us to perform. And when we have shown ourselves as good vassals, we have our Lord’s promise that He will protect us and our families. I know that however strong a bond was felt between earthly lords and vassals, the bond between us and our savior can be a thousand times stronger if we can just have the faith and humility to surrender ourselves in homage to Him and trust in His judgment and His mercy and His power and His wisdom.