22nd Sunday of the Year (C), September 1, 2013
Liturgical readings
Ecclesiasticus 3:17-18, 20, 28-29
Psalm 68
Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24
Luke 14:1, 7-14
"Humility will win you the esteem of your fellow guests."
When Jesus came on a sabbath
to eat a meal
in the house
of one of the leading Pharisees,
they observed him closely,
He went on to address a parable
to the guests,
noticing how they were trying
to get places of honor
at the table:
"When you are invited
by someone to a wedding party,
do not sit in the place of honor
in case some greater dignitary
has been invited.
Then the host might come
and say to you,
'Make room for this man',
and you would have to proceed
shamefacedly to the lowest place.
What you should do
when you have been invited
is
go and sit in the lowest place,
so that
when your host approaches you
he will say,
'My friend,
come up higher.'
This will win you
the esteem of your fellow guests.
For everyone
who exalts himself
shall be humbled
and
he
who humbles himself
shall be exalted."
He said to the one who invited him:
Whenever you give a lunch or dinner,
do not invite your friends
or brothers
or relatives
or wealthy neighbors.
They might invite you in return
and thus repay you.
No,
when you have a reception,
invite beggars
and the crippled,
the lame
and the blind.
You should be pleased
that they cannot repay you,
for you will be repaid
in the resurrection of the just."
Scripture verses from the Readings:
"An attentive ear is the wise man's joy." (Ecclesiasticus 3)
"What is to sublime for you, seek not, into things beyond your strength, search not." (Ecclesiasticus 3)
"God is the father of orphans and the defender of widows." (Psalm 68)
"You have drawn near to Mount Zion and the city of the living God." (Hebrews 12)
"Be pleased that the poor cannot repay you, for you will be repaid in the resurrection of the just." (Luke 14)
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