Man with dropsy (Luke 14:1–6)
1 On a sabbath he went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully.
2 In front of him there was a man suffering from dropsy.
3 Jesus spoke to the scholars of the law and Pharisees in reply, asking, "Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?"
4 But they kept silent; so he took the man and, after he had healed him, dismissed him.
5 Then he said to them, "Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?"
6 But they were unable to answer his question.
Jesus already knew that his hosts wanted to catch him in the act of breaking their Sabbath rituals. So when Jesus gave his defense for healing on the Sabbath, they treated him with cold silence. They were ensnared in their own legalism and could not understand or see the purpose of God in allowing a work of healing to take precedence over rest. Why did God give the commandment to keep holy the Sabbath and enjoined his people to refrain from work on that day? The "Sabbath rest" was meant to be a time to remember and celebrate God's goodness and the goodness of his works, both in creation and redemption. It was a day set apart for the praise of God, his work of creation, and his saving actions on our behalf. It was intended to bring everyday work to a halt and to provide needed rest and refreshment. It was not, however, intended to put a stop to love of God and love of neighbor. The law of love supersedes the law of rest! Jesus shows the fallacy of the Pharisees' legalism by pointing to God's intention for the Sabbath: to do good and to heal. God's word has power to heal and to set us free from ignorance, error, intolerance, and prejudice.
Time is a precious commodity in all of our lives. But increasingly Sunday – the Lord’s Day – is becoming just another day of the week. In his Apostolic Letter Dies Domini, “The Day of the Lord,” Pope John Paul II invited us to think more deeply about time itself in order to appreciate God’s gift of the Lord’s Day. He writes on his Apostolic letter Dies Domini: “Do not be afraid to give your time to Christ! ...He is the One who knows the secret of time and the secret of eternity, and He gives us ‘His day’ as an ever new gift of His love. The rediscovery of this day is a grace which we must implore, not only so that we may live the demands of faith to the full, but also so that we may respond concretely to the deepest human yearnings. Time given to Christ is never time lost, but is rather time gained, so that our relationships and indeed our whole life may become more profoundly human.”
Parable of the Wedding Feast (Luke 14:7-14)
7 He told a parable to those who had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table.
8 "When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him,
9 and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, 'Give your place to this man,' and then you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place.
10 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 to a higher position.' Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table.
11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."
12 Then he said to the host who invited him, "When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.
13 Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind;
14 blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
comments by Monsignor Charles Pope (Archdiocese of Washington (blog.adw.org)) :
Now what the Lord is really teaching is that at formal banquets it is the host who determines where we sit. This is of course most common in our culture at wedding receptions where seats are determined and assigned by the couple ahead of time. For someone to walk in and sit at the head table reserved for the wedding party is both rude and pompous. The polite and expected thing is to report the entrance table and receive a table number and graciously take your seat.
It is a true fact that many miss this point and like to assign themselves places and honors in God’s kingdom. But in the end that belongs to God. Some go through life resentful that they are not as rich as others, or as powerful, or as advantaged. Others wish they were taller, thinner, prettier, smarter etc. They are jealous of what they see as the advantages of others. But be very careful here. It is not for us to determine what is best for us. It is not for us to assign our own seat. Just because we think it is better to be rich than poor does not mean this is correct. The Lord warns how difficult it is for the rich to inherit the Kingdom of God. So being rich isn’t necessarily the blessing we think it is. It is for God to decide what is best for us. Riches, power, popularity, good looks etc. are all things that tend to root us in the world. These things are not necessarily blessings. Having a “good” job like some one else, a family like someone else, a talent like someone else may not be what is best for us. God decides all that and gives us the talents and blessings, as well as burdens and challenges he knows are best. So don’t just walk into God’s Kingdom and seat yourself! Check in with the host and find His will in terms of your seat. He’s got just the right one for you.
And hence the prescription is clear enough. Jesus instructs us in today’s Gospel: 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 to a higher position.’
Now what all this adds up to is that if we want to be great in the Kingdom of God then we had better become a servant. Jesus says, take the lowest place. Serve before you sit. What makes you great is to serve. The greatest thing about us is not our paycheck, our fancy house or any of that stuff. What is greatest about us is that we serve. We are great when we identify with the lowly and humble and seek to serve rather than to be served. We are great when we use our wealth, power, talents and abilities to build up the people of God and extend God’s Kingdom. Even in things which we are paid to do can still be service if serving is the primary reason we do it.
Jesus then adds: "When you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous". What this amounts to is a complete change in the way we see what is great in this world. Jesus is giving us more than a moralism here (i.e. be generous to the poor). He is offering us a new vision for who is greatest in his Kingdom. We ought to run to the poor, the blind the lame, the afflicted, for they give us the ability to serve and this, in the end, is our greatest honor: to serve others, especially the poor and afflicted who cannot repay us.
A final dimension of all this is to learn that some of the greatest and most honorable people we know are those who serve US. Since to serve is the greatest honor in the Kingdom of God, we ought to hold in high honor those who wait on our tables, who clean our houses and work places, who do the “dirty work,” those also who serve in our hospitals and all those who care for us and serve us in countless ways. They are doing something honorable and we ought to treat them with respect, kindness, and honor. We ought to give generous tips where that is appropriate, but above all we are to honor them.
"For the greatest among you is the servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all". (Mk 10:43)
You gotta serve before you sit.
comments by Pope Jean Paul II:
Do not neglect your sick and elderly. Do not turn away from the handicapped and the dying. Do not push them to the margins of society. For if you do, you will fail to understand that they represent an important truth. The sick, the elderly, the handicapped and the dying teach us that weakness is a creative part of human living, and that suffering can be embraced with no loss of dignity. Without the presence of these people in your midst you might be tempted to think of health, strength and power as the only important values to be pursued in life. But the wisdom of Christ and the power of Christ are to be seen in the weakness of those who share his sufferings.
Great banquet (Luke 14:15-24)
15 One of his fellow guests on hearing this said to him, "Blessed is the one who will dine in the kingdom of God."
16 He replied to him, "A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many.
17 When the time for the dinner came, he dispatched his servant to say to those invited, 'Come, everything is now ready.'
18 But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves. The first said to him, 'I have purchased a field and must go to examine it; I ask you, consider me excused.'
19 And another said, 'I have purchased five yoke of oxen and am on my way to evaluate them; I ask you, consider me excused.'
20 And another said, 'I have just married a woman, and therefore I cannot come.'
21 The servant went and reported this to his master. Then the master of the house in a rage commanded his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in here the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame.'
22 The servant reported, 'Sir, your orders have been carried out and still there is room.'
23 The master then ordered the servant, 'Go out to the highways and hedgerows and make people come in that my home may be filled.
24 For, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.'"
comments by by Father John Bullock:
1. All Are Invited
The word “catholic” means universal or “according to the totality.” This means that the Church is totally united to Christ, and it is also means that the Church is sent out to the entire world (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 830–831). Men, women, children, rich, poor, healthy, sick – no one is excluded. Everyone is invited to partake in the Good News. Everyone is invited to God’s banquet of grace in this life and the next. God takes the initiative; he seeks the people out. He is more interested in our salvation than we are. Christ is pleading with us to let him love us: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
2. Too Busy for God
The sad reality is that we often respond to this tremendous invitation to love with, “I’m busy… maybe later.” While there are those who violently oppose and persecute the Church, the all-too-frequent apathy on the part of many of its members is much more dangerous. Outright persecution forces us to decide and often leads to heroism on the part of Christ’s followers. Yet our polite “indifference” to God and his Church weakens its vitality and witness. If their beliefs aren’t reflected in their decisions and in their lives, Catholics seem no different than anyone else. It is this mediocrity which we have to resist: “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:16).
3. The Task of the Messenger
Christ has deigned to use us as his instruments. This is a gift and a responsibility: “Go out to the highways and hedgerows and make people come in that my home may be filled” (Luke 15:23). This passage closely resembles the Risen Christ’s message to his apostles to go out to all the world to proclaim the Good News (cf. Mark 16:15). Often the messenger will become frustrated with the apparent failure of his endeavors: “It seems no one cares.” In these moments it is important not to allow discouragement to take over. God’s grace and the power of the truth will bear fruit. Many might say “no,” but many others will respond generously. So that more people will be reached, we must “ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:38).
words by Pope Francis (Homily 06 November 2018):
Despite the lack of response from those called, God’s plan is never interrupted. In facing the rejection of the first invitees, He is not discouraged, He does not cancel the feast, but makes another invitation, expanding it beyond all reasonable limits, and sends his servants into the town squares and the byways to gather anyone they find. These, however, are ordinary, poor, neglected and marginalized people, good and bad alike — even bad people are invited — without distinction. And the hall is filled with “the excluded”. The Gospel, rejected by some, is unexpectedly welcomed in many other hearts.
Counting the cost (14:25-14:33)
25 Great crowds were traveling with him, and he turned and addressed them,
26 "If any one comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
27 Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
28 Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion?
29 Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him
30 and say, 'This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.'
31 Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops?
32 But if not, while he is still far away, he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms.
33 In the same way, everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.
Comments from Pope John Paul II (20th World Youth Day Message, August 2004):
My dear young people... Be worshippers of the only true God, giving Him pride of place in your lives! Idolatry is an ever-present temptation. Sadly, there are those who seek the solution to their problems in religious practices that are incompatible with the Christian faith. There is a strong urge to believe in the facile myths of success and power; it is dangerous to accept the fleeting ideas of the sacred which present God in the form of cosmic energy, or in any other manner that is inconsistent with Catholic teaching.
My dear young people, do not yield to false illusions and passing fads which so frequently leave behind a tragic spiritual vacuum! Reject the seduction of wealth, consumerism and the subtle violence sometimes used by the mass media.
Worshipping the true God is an authentic act of resistance to all forms of idolatry. Worship Christ: He is the Rock on which to build your future and a world of greater justice and solidarity. Jesus is the Prince of peace: the source of forgiveness and reconciliation, who can make brothers and sisters of all the members of the human family...
...Listening to Christ and worshipping Him leads us to make courageous choices, to take what are sometimes heroic decisions. Jesus is demanding, because He wishes our genuine happiness. He calls some to give up everything to follow Him in the priestly or consecrated life. Those who hear this invitation must not be afraid to say "yes" and to generously set about following Him as His disciples. But in addition to vocations to special forms of consecration there is also the specific vocation of all baptised Christians: that is also a vocation to that "high standard" of ordinary Christian living which is expressed in holiness (cf Novo Millennio Ineunte, 31). When we meet Christ and accept His Gospel, life changes and we are driven to communicate our experience to others.
There are so many of our contemporaries who do not yet know the love of God or who are seeking to fill their hearts with trifling substitutes. It is therefore urgently necessary for us to be witnesses to love contemplated in Christ. The invitation... is also extended to you, dear friends, who are not baptised or who do not identify with the Church. Are you not perhaps yearning for the Absolute and in search of "something" to give a meaning to your lives? Turn to Christ and you will not be let down.
Dear young people, the Church needs genuine witnesses for the new evangelisation: men and women whose lives have been transformed by meeting with Jesus, men and women who are capable of communicating this experience to others. The Church needs saints. All are called to holiness, and holy people alone can renew humanity.
My dear young people... May Mary, "Eucharistic woman" and Mother of Wisdom, support you along the way, enlighten your decisions, and teach you to love what is true, good and beautiful. May she lead you all to her Son, who alone can satisfy the innermost yearnings of the human mind and heart.
comments by Deacon Keith Fournier:
We are in the midst of immense spiritual warfare.
We have a tower to build and a lot of work to do. We must calculate the cost. We are engaged in a spiritual war for the souls of men and women; indeed the very survival of the Nation we love may hang in the balance. However, we must always remember that the struggle is at root, a spiritual one. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Ephesus:
"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against." (Eph. 6:12,13). Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood; but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
He wrote to the Christians in Corinth:
For though we live in the world we are not carrying on a worldly war, for the weapons of our warfare are not worldly but have divine power to destroy strongholds. (2 Cor. 10:4,5)
This struggle we are engaged in as Christians in contemporary western culture involves a clash of worldviews, personal and corporate, and competing definitions of human freedom. Remember, in the circles of cultural and social revolutionaries, Christians (at least orthodox, clasical faithful ones) are often presented as unenlightened, allegedly forcing our view on others.
In reality, our positions on the dignity of every life, marriage, family, authentic freedom and the nature of truth as objective, is what actually frees people from the bondage of disordered appetites. These truths are objectively true for all men and women. We were made for relationship. We were structured for authentic love and human flourishing within family and a society founded upon family.
Our contemporary culture is increasingly pagan. Many of the gods and goddesses of the old pagan regimes promoted lives of selfish excess, homosexual practices, and hedonism masquerading as freedom. The myths they told concerning them had these gods acting in much the same way. The arguments have been reintroduced today, only the myths, tributes and statues are different.
We must build the tower. We must enter the field of battle. We must be faithful citizens, run for office, and never give up our struggles in the courtroom, the classroom, or the marketplace of commerce, all for the true common good. Our social and cultural mission is not an option. We cannot retreat to religious ghettos, figuratively or literally.
The contemporary re-emergence of ancient paganism is not the path to authentic human freedom and flourishing but to misery. The Christian understanding of the dignity of every human life and the truth about marriage and family is not some outdated notion of a past era but the framework for a future of true freedom. We are living in a new missionary age.
The Christian Way of Life transformed Christianity from being a small sect into becoming the major dominating faith of the age. It transformed the world of the First Millennium and the Second. It can and it will do the same in the Third Millennium. We cannot - we must not - we will not - retreat from the culture.
We must lay out the parts. We need a tower from which we can shout out the liberating truth to an age which has succumbed to so many lies. A tower from which we can see the field of struggle which lies before us and chart the course, moving forward to a future of authentic human freedom and flourishing.
Let us pray for one another, that we may be strong and courageous in the struggle which lies ahead. It is time to build the tower. It is time to take the field and engage the struggle.
The salt taste (Luke 14:34-14:35)
34 "Salt is good, but if salt itself loses its taste, with what can its flavor be restored?
35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear."
This teaching illustrates the condition of the person who is not able to demonstrate total commitment and dedication to discipleship that Jesus called for in the previous teaching. Salt for daily use came from the Dead Sea region and contained many minerals in addition to the valuable salt. Over time the salt could lose its flavor and was no longer valuable as a seasoning or preservative. A half-hearted disciple is like salt that has lost its flavor in that he cannot fulfill the purpose for which he was intended.
comments by Dr. Mary Healy, professor of Scripture at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit:
In Mark 9:49 Jesus added Everyone will be salted with fire. What could Jesus mean by this cryptic proverb?
Jesus is speaking of salt as a necessary quality in his disciples, the quality that keeps their spiritual life keen and vibrant. Perhaps "fervor" would best capture the meaning. He spoke of the fires of eternal torment, but here he balances the point by indicating that not all fire is bad. Even his disciples should expect to endure some "fire" in this life that will "salt" them. The fire of persecution and other kinds of suffering has a salutary, purifying effect, as in the refining of precious metals (see Mal 3:2-3).
Besides its seasoning and preservative qualities, salt has another effect: it makes people thirsty. Jesus is exhorting his disciples to maintain that spiritual vitality that will make others thirst for the living water that he gives, the Holy Spirit (see John 4:14; 7:37-39). And in placing these sayings at the end of Jesus' instructions on humility and self-renunciation, Mark indicates that what can make the salt tasteless is the creeping attachment to self, the desire for human recognition, and the compromise with sin to which we can so easily succumb. Those who have had the privilege of being with a truly humble person-for instance, Mother Teresa of Calcutta-can testify to the indefinable lifting of one's spirit, the deeper thirst for holiness, that arises simply from being in his or her presence. st. Seraphim of Sarov, a Russian saint, expressed a similar idea: "Acquire the Spirit of peace and thousands around you will be saved.
comments by Fr. Matt Settle (St. Anthony's Catholic Church - www.stanthonyniagara.org):
Jesus clearly used this salty image in His teachings to the disciples. There are 2 parallel passages in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke to this particular saying of Jesus. In Matthew (chapter 5), immediately after revealing the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus goes on to say: “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?” Likewise, in Luke (chapter 14), after a series of teachings about the need to be totally dedicated to Jesus (to give up family, possessions, and everything else), He says, “Salt is good, but if salt itself loses its taste, with what can its flavor be restored? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.”
In both of these cases, Jesus seems to be saying that we (who are made from the dust of the earth) need to have a distinctive, uncommon, salty flavor to our lives, for if we ‘taste’ like everyone else, we become “lukewarm” (neither hot nor cold) and God will spit us out of His mouth (see Revelation chapter 3). In Mark’s case, something different is added though. Here, Jesus prefaces His remark with this: “Everyone will be salted with fire,” (and this is right after talking about the fires of Hell).
Now, going back to the Old Testament, salt had at least 4 uses. It was used to season (flavor) food. It was used to purify and to preserve food (or water). It was spread on the ground to ‘burn’ away vegetation (to make the ground of your enemies barren). Finally, it was eaten by 2 people as a way to seal a covenant bond (to ‘eat salt’ with someone meant that you were now brothers). To see examples of some of these, check out Leviticus 2:13; Deuteronomy 29:23; Judges 9:45; 2 Kings 2:19-21; and others.
So what does all this mean? As is typical, I think Jesus is saying many things here, but maybe we can say this in the end. The ‘salt in your hearts’ that He mentions can mean your covenant (love) with God. It ought to be ‘salty’ – to burn away the works of the Devil, to give a unique flavor to your relationships, and to purify and preserve your heart from other desires. Do that, and you will have “peace with one another.”
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| Carl Heinrich Bloch - Christ Healing (1871) |
2 In front of him there was a man suffering from dropsy.
3 Jesus spoke to the scholars of the law and Pharisees in reply, asking, "Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?"
4 But they kept silent; so he took the man and, after he had healed him, dismissed him.
5 Then he said to them, "Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?"
6 But they were unable to answer his question.
Jesus already knew that his hosts wanted to catch him in the act of breaking their Sabbath rituals. So when Jesus gave his defense for healing on the Sabbath, they treated him with cold silence. They were ensnared in their own legalism and could not understand or see the purpose of God in allowing a work of healing to take precedence over rest. Why did God give the commandment to keep holy the Sabbath and enjoined his people to refrain from work on that day? The "Sabbath rest" was meant to be a time to remember and celebrate God's goodness and the goodness of his works, both in creation and redemption. It was a day set apart for the praise of God, his work of creation, and his saving actions on our behalf. It was intended to bring everyday work to a halt and to provide needed rest and refreshment. It was not, however, intended to put a stop to love of God and love of neighbor. The law of love supersedes the law of rest! Jesus shows the fallacy of the Pharisees' legalism by pointing to God's intention for the Sabbath: to do good and to heal. God's word has power to heal and to set us free from ignorance, error, intolerance, and prejudice.
Time is a precious commodity in all of our lives. But increasingly Sunday – the Lord’s Day – is becoming just another day of the week. In his Apostolic Letter Dies Domini, “The Day of the Lord,” Pope John Paul II invited us to think more deeply about time itself in order to appreciate God’s gift of the Lord’s Day. He writes on his Apostolic letter Dies Domini: “Do not be afraid to give your time to Christ! ...He is the One who knows the secret of time and the secret of eternity, and He gives us ‘His day’ as an ever new gift of His love. The rediscovery of this day is a grace which we must implore, not only so that we may live the demands of faith to the full, but also so that we may respond concretely to the deepest human yearnings. Time given to Christ is never time lost, but is rather time gained, so that our relationships and indeed our whole life may become more profoundly human.”
Parable of the Wedding Feast (Luke 14:7-14)
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| The Wedding Feast (1545) by Tintoretto |
8 "When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him,
9 and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, 'Give your place to this man,' and then you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place.
10 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 to a higher position.' Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table.
11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."
12 Then he said to the host who invited him, "When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.
13 Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind;
14 blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
comments by Monsignor Charles Pope (Archdiocese of Washington (blog.adw.org)) :
Now what the Lord is really teaching is that at formal banquets it is the host who determines where we sit. This is of course most common in our culture at wedding receptions where seats are determined and assigned by the couple ahead of time. For someone to walk in and sit at the head table reserved for the wedding party is both rude and pompous. The polite and expected thing is to report the entrance table and receive a table number and graciously take your seat.
It is a true fact that many miss this point and like to assign themselves places and honors in God’s kingdom. But in the end that belongs to God. Some go through life resentful that they are not as rich as others, or as powerful, or as advantaged. Others wish they were taller, thinner, prettier, smarter etc. They are jealous of what they see as the advantages of others. But be very careful here. It is not for us to determine what is best for us. It is not for us to assign our own seat. Just because we think it is better to be rich than poor does not mean this is correct. The Lord warns how difficult it is for the rich to inherit the Kingdom of God. So being rich isn’t necessarily the blessing we think it is. It is for God to decide what is best for us. Riches, power, popularity, good looks etc. are all things that tend to root us in the world. These things are not necessarily blessings. Having a “good” job like some one else, a family like someone else, a talent like someone else may not be what is best for us. God decides all that and gives us the talents and blessings, as well as burdens and challenges he knows are best. So don’t just walk into God’s Kingdom and seat yourself! Check in with the host and find His will in terms of your seat. He’s got just the right one for you.
And hence the prescription is clear enough. Jesus instructs us in today’s Gospel: 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 to a higher position.’
Now what all this adds up to is that if we want to be great in the Kingdom of God then we had better become a servant. Jesus says, take the lowest place. Serve before you sit. What makes you great is to serve. The greatest thing about us is not our paycheck, our fancy house or any of that stuff. What is greatest about us is that we serve. We are great when we identify with the lowly and humble and seek to serve rather than to be served. We are great when we use our wealth, power, talents and abilities to build up the people of God and extend God’s Kingdom. Even in things which we are paid to do can still be service if serving is the primary reason we do it.
Jesus then adds: "When you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous". What this amounts to is a complete change in the way we see what is great in this world. Jesus is giving us more than a moralism here (i.e. be generous to the poor). He is offering us a new vision for who is greatest in his Kingdom. We ought to run to the poor, the blind the lame, the afflicted, for they give us the ability to serve and this, in the end, is our greatest honor: to serve others, especially the poor and afflicted who cannot repay us.
A final dimension of all this is to learn that some of the greatest and most honorable people we know are those who serve US. Since to serve is the greatest honor in the Kingdom of God, we ought to hold in high honor those who wait on our tables, who clean our houses and work places, who do the “dirty work,” those also who serve in our hospitals and all those who care for us and serve us in countless ways. They are doing something honorable and we ought to treat them with respect, kindness, and honor. We ought to give generous tips where that is appropriate, but above all we are to honor them.
"For the greatest among you is the servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all". (Mk 10:43)
You gotta serve before you sit.
comments by Pope Jean Paul II:
Do not neglect your sick and elderly. Do not turn away from the handicapped and the dying. Do not push them to the margins of society. For if you do, you will fail to understand that they represent an important truth. The sick, the elderly, the handicapped and the dying teach us that weakness is a creative part of human living, and that suffering can be embraced with no loss of dignity. Without the presence of these people in your midst you might be tempted to think of health, strength and power as the only important values to be pursued in life. But the wisdom of Christ and the power of Christ are to be seen in the weakness of those who share his sufferings.
Great banquet (Luke 14:15-24)
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| Das Gastmahl (The Symposion Feast) by Anton von Werner (1877) |
16 He replied to him, "A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many.
17 When the time for the dinner came, he dispatched his servant to say to those invited, 'Come, everything is now ready.'
18 But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves. The first said to him, 'I have purchased a field and must go to examine it; I ask you, consider me excused.'
19 And another said, 'I have purchased five yoke of oxen and am on my way to evaluate them; I ask you, consider me excused.'
20 And another said, 'I have just married a woman, and therefore I cannot come.'
21 The servant went and reported this to his master. Then the master of the house in a rage commanded his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in here the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame.'
22 The servant reported, 'Sir, your orders have been carried out and still there is room.'
23 The master then ordered the servant, 'Go out to the highways and hedgerows and make people come in that my home may be filled.
24 For, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.'"
comments by by Father John Bullock:
1. All Are Invited
The word “catholic” means universal or “according to the totality.” This means that the Church is totally united to Christ, and it is also means that the Church is sent out to the entire world (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 830–831). Men, women, children, rich, poor, healthy, sick – no one is excluded. Everyone is invited to partake in the Good News. Everyone is invited to God’s banquet of grace in this life and the next. God takes the initiative; he seeks the people out. He is more interested in our salvation than we are. Christ is pleading with us to let him love us: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
2. Too Busy for God
The sad reality is that we often respond to this tremendous invitation to love with, “I’m busy… maybe later.” While there are those who violently oppose and persecute the Church, the all-too-frequent apathy on the part of many of its members is much more dangerous. Outright persecution forces us to decide and often leads to heroism on the part of Christ’s followers. Yet our polite “indifference” to God and his Church weakens its vitality and witness. If their beliefs aren’t reflected in their decisions and in their lives, Catholics seem no different than anyone else. It is this mediocrity which we have to resist: “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:16).
3. The Task of the Messenger
Christ has deigned to use us as his instruments. This is a gift and a responsibility: “Go out to the highways and hedgerows and make people come in that my home may be filled” (Luke 15:23). This passage closely resembles the Risen Christ’s message to his apostles to go out to all the world to proclaim the Good News (cf. Mark 16:15). Often the messenger will become frustrated with the apparent failure of his endeavors: “It seems no one cares.” In these moments it is important not to allow discouragement to take over. God’s grace and the power of the truth will bear fruit. Many might say “no,” but many others will respond generously. So that more people will be reached, we must “ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:38).
words by Pope Francis (Homily 06 November 2018):
Despite the lack of response from those called, God’s plan is never interrupted. In facing the rejection of the first invitees, He is not discouraged, He does not cancel the feast, but makes another invitation, expanding it beyond all reasonable limits, and sends his servants into the town squares and the byways to gather anyone they find. These, however, are ordinary, poor, neglected and marginalized people, good and bad alike — even bad people are invited — without distinction. And the hall is filled with “the excluded”. The Gospel, rejected by some, is unexpectedly welcomed in many other hearts.
Counting the cost (14:25-14:33)
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| Vercingetorix Throws Down His Arms at the Feet of Julius Caesar (1899) by Lionel Noel Royer |
26 "If any one comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
27 Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
28 Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion?
29 Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him
30 and say, 'This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.'
31 Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops?
32 But if not, while he is still far away, he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms.
33 In the same way, everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.
Comments from Pope John Paul II (20th World Youth Day Message, August 2004):
My dear young people... Be worshippers of the only true God, giving Him pride of place in your lives! Idolatry is an ever-present temptation. Sadly, there are those who seek the solution to their problems in religious practices that are incompatible with the Christian faith. There is a strong urge to believe in the facile myths of success and power; it is dangerous to accept the fleeting ideas of the sacred which present God in the form of cosmic energy, or in any other manner that is inconsistent with Catholic teaching.
My dear young people, do not yield to false illusions and passing fads which so frequently leave behind a tragic spiritual vacuum! Reject the seduction of wealth, consumerism and the subtle violence sometimes used by the mass media.
Worshipping the true God is an authentic act of resistance to all forms of idolatry. Worship Christ: He is the Rock on which to build your future and a world of greater justice and solidarity. Jesus is the Prince of peace: the source of forgiveness and reconciliation, who can make brothers and sisters of all the members of the human family...
...Listening to Christ and worshipping Him leads us to make courageous choices, to take what are sometimes heroic decisions. Jesus is demanding, because He wishes our genuine happiness. He calls some to give up everything to follow Him in the priestly or consecrated life. Those who hear this invitation must not be afraid to say "yes" and to generously set about following Him as His disciples. But in addition to vocations to special forms of consecration there is also the specific vocation of all baptised Christians: that is also a vocation to that "high standard" of ordinary Christian living which is expressed in holiness (cf Novo Millennio Ineunte, 31). When we meet Christ and accept His Gospel, life changes and we are driven to communicate our experience to others.
There are so many of our contemporaries who do not yet know the love of God or who are seeking to fill their hearts with trifling substitutes. It is therefore urgently necessary for us to be witnesses to love contemplated in Christ. The invitation... is also extended to you, dear friends, who are not baptised or who do not identify with the Church. Are you not perhaps yearning for the Absolute and in search of "something" to give a meaning to your lives? Turn to Christ and you will not be let down.
Dear young people, the Church needs genuine witnesses for the new evangelisation: men and women whose lives have been transformed by meeting with Jesus, men and women who are capable of communicating this experience to others. The Church needs saints. All are called to holiness, and holy people alone can renew humanity.
My dear young people... May Mary, "Eucharistic woman" and Mother of Wisdom, support you along the way, enlighten your decisions, and teach you to love what is true, good and beautiful. May she lead you all to her Son, who alone can satisfy the innermost yearnings of the human mind and heart.
comments by Deacon Keith Fournier:
We are in the midst of immense spiritual warfare.
We have a tower to build and a lot of work to do. We must calculate the cost. We are engaged in a spiritual war for the souls of men and women; indeed the very survival of the Nation we love may hang in the balance. However, we must always remember that the struggle is at root, a spiritual one. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Ephesus:
"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against." (Eph. 6:12,13). Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood; but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
He wrote to the Christians in Corinth:
For though we live in the world we are not carrying on a worldly war, for the weapons of our warfare are not worldly but have divine power to destroy strongholds. (2 Cor. 10:4,5)
This struggle we are engaged in as Christians in contemporary western culture involves a clash of worldviews, personal and corporate, and competing definitions of human freedom. Remember, in the circles of cultural and social revolutionaries, Christians (at least orthodox, clasical faithful ones) are often presented as unenlightened, allegedly forcing our view on others.
In reality, our positions on the dignity of every life, marriage, family, authentic freedom and the nature of truth as objective, is what actually frees people from the bondage of disordered appetites. These truths are objectively true for all men and women. We were made for relationship. We were structured for authentic love and human flourishing within family and a society founded upon family.
Our contemporary culture is increasingly pagan. Many of the gods and goddesses of the old pagan regimes promoted lives of selfish excess, homosexual practices, and hedonism masquerading as freedom. The myths they told concerning them had these gods acting in much the same way. The arguments have been reintroduced today, only the myths, tributes and statues are different.
We must build the tower. We must enter the field of battle. We must be faithful citizens, run for office, and never give up our struggles in the courtroom, the classroom, or the marketplace of commerce, all for the true common good. Our social and cultural mission is not an option. We cannot retreat to religious ghettos, figuratively or literally.
The contemporary re-emergence of ancient paganism is not the path to authentic human freedom and flourishing but to misery. The Christian understanding of the dignity of every human life and the truth about marriage and family is not some outdated notion of a past era but the framework for a future of true freedom. We are living in a new missionary age.
The Christian Way of Life transformed Christianity from being a small sect into becoming the major dominating faith of the age. It transformed the world of the First Millennium and the Second. It can and it will do the same in the Third Millennium. We cannot - we must not - we will not - retreat from the culture.
We must lay out the parts. We need a tower from which we can shout out the liberating truth to an age which has succumbed to so many lies. A tower from which we can see the field of struggle which lies before us and chart the course, moving forward to a future of authentic human freedom and flourishing.
Let us pray for one another, that we may be strong and courageous in the struggle which lies ahead. It is time to build the tower. It is time to take the field and engage the struggle.
The salt taste (Luke 14:34-14:35)
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| Table with a cloth, salt cellar, porcelain dish with olives, and roast fowl (1611) by Clara Peeters |
35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear."
This teaching illustrates the condition of the person who is not able to demonstrate total commitment and dedication to discipleship that Jesus called for in the previous teaching. Salt for daily use came from the Dead Sea region and contained many minerals in addition to the valuable salt. Over time the salt could lose its flavor and was no longer valuable as a seasoning or preservative. A half-hearted disciple is like salt that has lost its flavor in that he cannot fulfill the purpose for which he was intended.
comments by Dr. Mary Healy, professor of Scripture at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit:
In Mark 9:49 Jesus added Everyone will be salted with fire. What could Jesus mean by this cryptic proverb?
Jesus is speaking of salt as a necessary quality in his disciples, the quality that keeps their spiritual life keen and vibrant. Perhaps "fervor" would best capture the meaning. He spoke of the fires of eternal torment, but here he balances the point by indicating that not all fire is bad. Even his disciples should expect to endure some "fire" in this life that will "salt" them. The fire of persecution and other kinds of suffering has a salutary, purifying effect, as in the refining of precious metals (see Mal 3:2-3).
Besides its seasoning and preservative qualities, salt has another effect: it makes people thirsty. Jesus is exhorting his disciples to maintain that spiritual vitality that will make others thirst for the living water that he gives, the Holy Spirit (see John 4:14; 7:37-39). And in placing these sayings at the end of Jesus' instructions on humility and self-renunciation, Mark indicates that what can make the salt tasteless is the creeping attachment to self, the desire for human recognition, and the compromise with sin to which we can so easily succumb. Those who have had the privilege of being with a truly humble person-for instance, Mother Teresa of Calcutta-can testify to the indefinable lifting of one's spirit, the deeper thirst for holiness, that arises simply from being in his or her presence. st. Seraphim of Sarov, a Russian saint, expressed a similar idea: "Acquire the Spirit of peace and thousands around you will be saved.
comments by Fr. Matt Settle (St. Anthony's Catholic Church - www.stanthonyniagara.org):
Jesus clearly used this salty image in His teachings to the disciples. There are 2 parallel passages in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke to this particular saying of Jesus. In Matthew (chapter 5), immediately after revealing the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus goes on to say: “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?” Likewise, in Luke (chapter 14), after a series of teachings about the need to be totally dedicated to Jesus (to give up family, possessions, and everything else), He says, “Salt is good, but if salt itself loses its taste, with what can its flavor be restored? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.”
In both of these cases, Jesus seems to be saying that we (who are made from the dust of the earth) need to have a distinctive, uncommon, salty flavor to our lives, for if we ‘taste’ like everyone else, we become “lukewarm” (neither hot nor cold) and God will spit us out of His mouth (see Revelation chapter 3). In Mark’s case, something different is added though. Here, Jesus prefaces His remark with this: “Everyone will be salted with fire,” (and this is right after talking about the fires of Hell).
Now, going back to the Old Testament, salt had at least 4 uses. It was used to season (flavor) food. It was used to purify and to preserve food (or water). It was spread on the ground to ‘burn’ away vegetation (to make the ground of your enemies barren). Finally, it was eaten by 2 people as a way to seal a covenant bond (to ‘eat salt’ with someone meant that you were now brothers). To see examples of some of these, check out Leviticus 2:13; Deuteronomy 29:23; Judges 9:45; 2 Kings 2:19-21; and others.
So what does all this mean? As is typical, I think Jesus is saying many things here, but maybe we can say this in the end. The ‘salt in your hearts’ that He mentions can mean your covenant (love) with God. It ought to be ‘salty’ – to burn away the works of the Devil, to give a unique flavor to your relationships, and to purify and preserve your heart from other desires. Do that, and you will have “peace with one another.”
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