Weekly Reflections

September 1st : Sunday Gospel Reflection
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel Reflection For Sunday September 1st: Humility and Hospitality

When we read any of the gospels, we can clearly see that Jesus loved to eat, drink and to socialise with people from all walks of life. In the gospel this Sunday, Jesus has gone for a meal to the house of one of the leading Pharisees. However, in two weeks’ time in another gospel, Jesus will be eating with sinners and tax collectors, and the very same Pharisees will condemn and criticise Jesus because he is eating with these sorts of people.

The Pharisees were part of the powerful ruling class at the time of Jesus. With the Sadducees, they controlled who could enter the Temple and the synagogue. They interpreted and controlled the many Jewish laws and rituals that often made life very difficult for ordinary Jews. They saw themselves are morally and religiously superior to everyone else, especially the poor whom they looked down on. And we know also from the gospels, that many times Jesus publicly challenged and condemned these Pharisees for the way they treated other people.

As the meal begins, we are told that Jesus notices that the Pharisees had picked the places of honour. This would not have been unusual behaviour for them. They liked to be seen as important; they liked people to look at them and to see them. But Jesus won’t let this go; he tells them very clearly, ‘When you are invited to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honour. A more distinguished person than you may have been invited, and the person who invited you both may come and say, Give up your place to this person.’ And almost as a preparation for the gospel in two weeks’ time, Jesus challenges those present by telling them that when they have a meal they are to invite the poor, the lame, the sick and the blind; they very people they despise and hate! So this gospel is about humility, generosity and welcoming the other; the stranger.

The mistake that we can make with this gospel or indeed any gospel is that they are not relevant to us or that they don’t apply to us today. This gospel challenges us too as to how we treat others, especially those who are different from us because of race, colour or religious belief. Am I like the Pharisees who take the best seats before others because I am entitled to sit there? Do I have the courage and humility to give my seat to someone else and welcome them regardless of whether I know them or not? Am I inclusive or exclusive in my behaviour and in how I treat others?

St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians puts it very well when he tells us, ‘There must be no conceit among you… always think of the other person as better than yourself, so that nobody think of their own interests first but everybody thinks of other peoples interests instead. In your minds you must be the same as Jesus Christ.’ (Philippians 2.3-4)

This week at home with my family or at work with my colleagues, can I put their interests before my own? Can I be the same as Jesus Christ who welcomed every one, excluded no one and treated every one with love, dignity and respect?

-Br Michael Moore OMI

Everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled

On a sabbath day Jesus had gone for a meal to the house of one of the leading Pharisees; and they watched him closely. He then told the guests a parable, because he had noticed how they picked the places of honour. He said this, ‘When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take your seat in the place of honour. A more distinguished person than you may have been invited, and the person who invited you both may come and say, “Give up your place to this man.” And then, to your embarrassment, you would have to go and take the lowest place. No; when you are a guest, make your way to the lowest place and sit there, so that, when your host comes, he may say, “My friend, move up higher.” In that way, everyone with you at the table will see you honoured. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the man who humbles himself will be exalted.’

Then he said to his host, ‘When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not ask your friends, brothers, relations or rich neighbours, for fear they repay your courtesy by inviting you in return. No; when you have a party, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; that they cannot pay you back means that you are fortunate, because repayment will be made to you when the virtuous rise again.’

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Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate

Weekly Reflections

September 1st : Sunday Gospel Reflection
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel: Luke 14:1,7-14 ©

Everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled

Prayer Intentions