(Click Here for Readings)
Gospel of Luke 14:12-14
“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.”
Today's gospel reading reminds me of when Pope Francis invited 200 homeless people to dine at the Vatican in July 2013. They ate a catered dinner outside Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto. I'm sure the homeless were appreciative of the hospitality. Not every day do common people, much less homeless people, receive a dinner invite from the Pope!
As Americans it's difficult for us to fathom the number of families who go hungry each day. We think in a land of plenty everyone has access to food. Look at the obesity epidemic. Isn't that evidence that we have more people over eating than under eating? No. It means we have people eating the wrong kinds of food. There is still a large population of families, especially young children, who go hungry every night. I get sick to my stomach when I think about the food we waste every day. I wonder how many meals we can donate to the homeless from the perfectly good food we throw into our garbage disposals? How many meals can people glean from restaurant and grocery store trash bins? How about left over produce from Farmers' markets? We could have enough wasted food to feed hundreds of families! I recently read an article in the September 2014 issue of Vegetarian Times about modern-day gleaning cooperatives forming across the United States (See article here). The ancient practice of gleaning, highlighted in the Book of Ruth, has been revived, showing signs of success across the United States.
I can see Jesus inviting the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind to dinner. He'd welcome them and feed them until their bellies were stuffed! He would NOT look down at them; snub them, or turn them away as if they were diseased. He'd invite them to the banquet table without an ounce of regret or remorse. This is quite opposite from what people do today. You'd never hear of a person inviting a homeless person to sit at their expensive $10,000 table of ten at a gala event! You don't hear of a person giving a McDonald's Happy Meal to a homeless person on the street. It's just not the "cool" thing to do. We turn a blind eye to the homeless, the poor and the needy as if they do not exist. We rather not look at them. It reminds us too much of our frail humanity. It reminds us too much of that fact that we could be homeless someday, too. We just happen to have a good paying job, a roof over our heads, and food on the table. These poor people are not so fortunate; yet, we have a responsibilities as Christians to invite them to Christ's table - not only for physical food but spiritual food.
We should see the face of Jesus in the poor, the needy, the hungry, and the homeless. We should love them as much as we love the Lord.
I can see Jesus inviting the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind to dinner. He'd welcome them and feed them until their bellies were stuffed! He would NOT look down at them; snub them, or turn them away as if they were diseased. He'd invite them to the banquet table without an ounce of regret or remorse. This is quite opposite from what people do today. You'd never hear of a person inviting a homeless person to sit at their expensive $10,000 table of ten at a gala event! You don't hear of a person giving a McDonald's Happy Meal to a homeless person on the street. It's just not the "cool" thing to do. We turn a blind eye to the homeless, the poor and the needy as if they do not exist. We rather not look at them. It reminds us too much of our frail humanity. It reminds us too much of that fact that we could be homeless someday, too. We just happen to have a good paying job, a roof over our heads, and food on the table. These poor people are not so fortunate; yet, we have a responsibilities as Christians to invite them to Christ's table - not only for physical food but spiritual food.
We should see the face of Jesus in the poor, the needy, the hungry, and the homeless. We should love them as much as we love the Lord.
"To love God and neighbor is not something abstract, but profoundly concrete: it means seeing in every person and face of the Lord to be served, to serve him concretely. And you are, dear brothers and sisters, in the face of Jesus.” (Pope Francis, Address during Visit at the Homeless Shelter “Dona Di Maria,” 5/21/13)
-J.
No comments:
Post a Comment