The gospel for Monday of the 31st week in ordinary time is taken from Luke 14. On a Sabbath, Jesus went to dine at the house of one of the leading Pharisees. He said to the host who invited him, when you hold a lunch or dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they might 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 because of their inability to repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. A banquet is a meal of great abundance, and it’s an image of the kingdom of God that we are being called into.

And what he is noting in this particular passage about the Pharisees is that they have a way of never being separated from their need for using people, needing something from people, and that’s the life they were leading. And everything about the banquet is an abundance of great food and great wine offered to those who recognize their poverty, their brokenness, their need. The Pharisees and scribes are far from the kingdom of God, and Jesus is trying to make it clear to all of us their mistake. After your reflection, I will close with a prayer. Foreign Father, bless us with an awareness of your goodness, your desire for us to be fed and nourished. Awaken in all of us our poverty, our longing for the most marvelous gift that you offer us.

Your presence, your understanding, your compassion. It is truly what feeds the world and brings it closer to you. And we ask this in Jesus name, Amen.