Word to the Wise
Monday, November 4, 2013 - Monday in the 31th Week in Ordinary Time
[Rom 11:29-36 and Luke 14:12-14]When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be for their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.
NOVEMBER 4, 2013 ST. CHARLES BORROMEO, bishop
" Reciprocity" was a strong part of the fabric of social life in Jesus' day and exists in our own time! We have expressions like, "You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours!" or "One hand washes the other!" to express the idea of reciprocity! Note the example that Jesus gives about inviting wealthy neighbors so that they will reciprocate! ("I've always wanted to see the inside of THAT house!") This social exchange was often expressed in banquets and Jesus did a lot of his preaching at banquets, often comparing the kingdom of heaven to a banquet!
The challenging thing about the banquet was the return. When people realized that they could never reciprocate (or did not want to)in the same way, they would refuse the invitation! "I pray you. Hold me excused!" Jesus challenges his listeners to imitate the banquet to which he is inviting. He invites everyone and we know from the beginning that there is no way we could equal it or "reciprocate!" We can only imitate it. There are many "banquets" in our society to which only certain people are invited! These include the banquets of civil rights, access to decent health care, housing, education, food - the list goes on. Jesus' promise of a reward later on seems too distant to many of the "powers that be" who give the invitations. If we have it in our power to invite, we know who Jesus would like to see on the list. AMEN
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