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22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time
9-1-19
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| Do Not Take The Seat of Honor
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Our gospel today is the third instance in
which Luke tells us that Jesus ate with the Pharisees. It must have been
an unusual event. Luke says that they watched him closely. However, it
seems that Jesus was also observing them. He gently teases the other
guests about what he had observed. Watching them arrive looking around
at who else was there. Thinking about where and by whom they would sit.
Trying to get a good place; we have similar situations today.
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We might find that we start to put at a
distance those whom we have judged to be of a somewhat lesser or
inferior station in life. People can become snobs, they start by the way
they treat waiters or waitresses or people who wait on them in shops,
no “please or thank you.” Or more serious, telling ones children not to
mix with this or that child at school because they are not the same
nationality or color as us. Then there are those we keep at a distance:
relative or friend, alcoholic, drug addict, unemployed, recently
divorced. We lose sight of the fact that neighbor is a four letter
world, need. Jesus was speaking to the religious people of His day and
He gives them some shocking news. He tells them that the ones they look
down upon, the people that they called outcasts; they will be admitted
to the Kingdom of God and this was outrageous.
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Next He turned His attention to the host;
the man was undoubtedly already irritated at the impudent young prophet.
Who did He think He was, criticizing the leading citizens of the
community? But, Jesus was not finished yet. He also had unsolicited
advice for him, His recommendation-enlarge your social circle. Throw a
party for the little people, those who cannot pay you back.
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Jesus was a radical; He was always upsetting
the establishment. Not just doing the wrong thing, but the scandalous
thing like: healing on the Sabbath, forgiving the woman caught in
adultery, reaching out to Samaritans, touching lepers. He made enemies
of the powerful because He put compassion above tradition, love above
law, people above things and institutions. Most of these in attendance
at the meal were probably people of the same station in life. There were
none of the ones Jesus mentioned: the poor, the maimed, the ill, the
blind, the outcast, any of those invited could have returned the favor.
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That same principle seems still to hold, not
only in private life, but even on an international level. Nations help
other nations because they need their raw materials or military bases.
Not just because that nation is poor and needs help. Politicians tend to
bring money to areas and people who can return the favor at the ballot
box. In this kind of environment, we could easily catch ourselves
believing that the only people worth caring for are the bright, the
successful, the prosperous and the powerful. Those who can add something
to our lives either materially or socially, we are often so proud of
the successful members of our families and tend to forget those who are
not making it. And they are probably the ones who need us most. Today
Jesus is calling attention to the value of the forgotten ones of
humanity.
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The Dean of the Graduate School of Theology
addressed the incoming class; he spoke for over an hour telling them all
they needed to know about the rarified atmosphere of the graduate
school. He said, at the end of four years you will hopefully leave here
as Master or Doctor of Theology. But unless you know the names of the
Janitors in this building, those who clean the classrooms and the
hallways; your degrees are worth nothing. You will meet many people in
the next four years, they are all significant, they deserve your
attention and care even if all you can do is smile and say hello.
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After all, he said, one day you will all be
Priests trying to be followers of the greatest foot washer in history.
At your baptism the priest said, I claim you for Christ. That means that
you too are a follower of the greatest foot washer in history.
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| Yours in Christ, |
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| Fr. Bob Warren, SA |
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