Invitation to dinner
(Luke 14:1, 7-14)
It’s no accident that the Gospels contain many instances of shared meals, weddings feasts and miraculous feeding. In the Scriptures, meals always have something to do with the great meal – the eternal wedding feast.
We celebrate the sacred meal of the Eucharist anticipating the eternal feast of continual communion with God.
In this Gospel episode, Jesus has been invited to a meal at the home of a leading Pharisee. Luke tells us that they watched Jesus closely. No doubt, they are trying to make up their minds about him and his teaching.
Jesus, too, is watching closely and observes how those at the meal readily chose the places of honour for themselves. The fact that Luke calls the words of Jesus a ‘parable’ alerts us to the fact that this is more than just good advice about how to avoid embarrassment at a dinner party in the ancient world.
It turns out that the parable is about the feast in the Kingdom of God. In the Kingdom the usual conventions of this world are completely reversed, such that those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted; the last will be first, and the first last.
It is not wealth, power and social status that gains us a high place at the eternal feast, but the good treatment (humble service) of the most disadvantaged. Being hospitable to the poor and disadvantaged now gains a person the only welcome that truly matters: the welcome into the everlasting hospitality of God.
The true disciple acts towards others with the same largeness of heart as God. Humility enables us to be open to God’s heart, and gentleness is the way of imitating his love.
- pdf Celebrating At Home - 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time [PDF] (3.14 MB)
- default Celebrating At Home - 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time [ePub] (4.39 MB)
- pdf Celebrando en Familia - 22 Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario (574 KB)
- pdf Celebrando in Casa - XXII Domenica del Tempo Ordinario (574 KB)
- pdf Celebrando em Família - 22 Domingo do Tempo Comum (576 KB)
