1st Reading: Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29

Intro: the Wisdom Books of the Hebrew scriptures pass on the advice of thier culture. This selection from one of them introduces the theme of today's Gospel; the highly prized but seldom achieved virtue of humility.

2nd Reading: Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a

Intro: This selection from Hebrews continues what we heard last week and was not chosen to coincide with the Gospel. In it the Hebrews are told that they have now becoming part of the new creation that brings heaven and earth together.

Gospel: Luke 14:1, 7-14

Gospel Exegesis:

This is in a whole section about the conflict between Jesus and the teachings of the Pharisees and Herod. The wisdom section about not choosing the highest place is not about gaining earthly esteem or about being exulted in an earthly sense. It is about gaining the esteem of God who will repay you in the resurrection of the righteous (v.14b).

V. 13 describes the kind of people who will be invited to the heavenly banquet by God - those who are aware of their lowliness. This is brought out in the parable of the great banquet (vv. 15-24) which isn't used on any Sunday. Mathew's version (22:1-14) is given on the 28th Ord Sun of Cycle A.

What the 1st hearers heard:

They would have been hearing that the social system they were used to, and within which many of them did not fit, was wrong in its basic assumptions. The Pharisees had created a system of the righteous and the sinners; those who kept the law assiduously and those who didn't. I assume that many of the 1st hearers were those who were looked down upon by the Pharisees. Jesus is saying that the proper social system is one which takes care of those whom the pharisees looked down upon, the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind; those whose ailments were signs of thier sinfulness.Jesus' parable points out that those who take care of them are the real righteous (v. 14b).

Before & After:

Before

20th Ord Sun: Luke 12:49-53 - Christianity will be a source of division.

Skip: Lk 12:54-56 - Interpreting the Aegis of the times.

Lk 12:57-59 - Settle with your opponent

Lk 13:1-5 - Repent, you are as guilty as those who seem to have been punished by tragic deaths.

Lk 13:6-9 - Parable of the tree which bore no fruit.

Lk 13:10-17 - The cure of the crippled woman on the Sabbath.

Lk 13:18-19 - The Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed.

Lk 13:20-21 - The Kingdom of God is like yeast.

21st Ord Sun: Luke 13:22-30 - Enter through the narrow gate; the parable of the bridegroom who didn't recognize those who came after the door was closed.

Skip: Lk 13:31-35 - Jesus is warned that Herod is trying to kill him.

Lk 14:1-6 - Sabbath cure of the man with dropsy.

After

Skip: Luke 14:15-24 - The parable of the great dinner & the guests who didn't come

23rd Ord Sun: Luke 14:25-33 - hate family, give up life to follow Jesus, know the cost.

Homily Ideas:

• Humiliity = the truth about who we are
1. God is the creator; we are the creatures
2. We are all equal (no matter what)
• The hard working small business owner and the street wino are both equally loved by God and he desires that both spend eternity with him.
• The holy monk at Prince of Peace abbey and the street prostitute are both equally loved by God and he desires that both spend eternity with him.
• The son of a hard working US senator and the undocumented immegrant...
• The US Marine injured in Iraq and the Shiite death squad member....
3. The humble truth is, we are all in this together.
• Who are the poor, the crippled, the lame & the blind in our world?
• There are many types of poverty. The physically poor are often times the easiest to identify. Do you think this Gospel could mean that we are supposed to invite the poor of Mexico & Central America to our banquet. They seem to so desparately want to come here. Are we afraid they will spoil our banquet?
• The crippled, the lame and the blind might be our returning soldiers, if we take it in a literal sense, or they might be those who are crippled or lamed by lack of education, social ineptitude, by language problems, by having been born into poor families, etc. How are we supposed to invite them into the banquet?
• Currently and in the past, we, the US, have helped the less fortunate. We have also argued a lot, as a society, about how much to help and what manner of help is actually helpful or harmful. Those are good things, I think; even the arguing.
• Still, if you look at our quality of life in comparison with the rest of the world, an argument could be made that we are partying all by ourselves, and using up the world's resources to do it. I wonder what God sees.
• I wonder what God sees in our individual lives. How do we treat the physically, mentally, emotionally or socially less fortunate who come into our lives? i think that is the first place to start. Invite some outsider to your banquet, learn to appreciate them and show them God's love for them. Then maybe we, as a Christian society, can learn to deal with the less fortunate multitudes in our world.

Music Suggestions:

Reflection Questions:

Lk 14:11-14

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For adults:

For what will God repay you at the resurrection of the righteous? When have you had opportunities to help the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind enter the banquet? How did you respond to those opportunities? How can you give God more for which to repay you?

For younger people:

Who are the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind in your life? When have you had opportunities to show God's love to them? How did you show that love? (or not) What can you do to make sure at least one of them knows that God loves them?