From: Luke 14:1, 7-14

[1] One Sabbath when He (Jesus) went to dine at the house of a ruler who
belonged to the Pharisees, they were watching Him.

A Lesson About Humility

[7] Now He told a parable to those who were invited, when He marked how
they chose the places of honor, saying to them, [8] “When you are invited
by any one to a marriage feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest a
more eminent man than you be invited by him; [9] and he who invited you
both will come and say to you, `Give place to this man’ and then you will
begin with shame to take the lowest place. [10] But when you are invited,
go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say
to you, `Friend, go up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of
all who sit at table with you. [11] For every one who exalts himself will be
humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Attitude to the Poor

[12] He (Jesus) said to the man who had invited Him, “When you give a
dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your
kinsmen or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and you be
repaid. [13] But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the
lame, the blind, [14] and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay
you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

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Commentary:

11. Humility is necessary for salvation that Jesus takes every opportunity to
stress its importance. Here He uses the attitudes of people at banquet to
remind us again that it is God who assigns the places at the Heavenly banquet.
“Together with humility, the realization of the greatness of man’s dignity—and
of the overwhelming fact that, by grace, we are made children of God—forms a
single attitude. It is not our own efforts that save us and gives us life; it is the
grace of God. This is a truth which must never be forgotten” ([St] J. Escriva,
“Christ Is Passing By”, 133).

14. A Christian acts in the world in the same way anyone else does; but his
dealings with his colleagues and others should not be based on pursuit of
reward or vainglory: the first think he should seek is God’s glory, desiring
Heaven as his only reward (cf. Luke 6:32-34).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Mass Readings

First reading	Ecclesiasticus 3:19 - 31 ©
My son, be gentle in carrying out your business, and you will be better loved than a lavish giver. The greater you are, the more you should behave humbly, and then you will find favour with the Lord; for great though the power of the Lord is, he accepts the homage of the humble. There is no cure for the proud man’s malady, since an evil growth has taken root in him. The heart of a sensible man will reflect on parables, an attentive ear is the sage’s dream.

First reading

Ecclesiasticus 3:19 - 31 ©

My son, be gentle in carrying out your business,
and you will be better loved than a lavish giver.
The greater you are, the more you should behave humbly,
and then you will find favour with the Lord;
for great though the power of the Lord is,
he accepts the homage of the humble.
There is no cure for the proud man’s malady,
since an evil growth has taken root in him.
The heart of a sensible man will reflect on parables,
an attentive ear is the sage’s dream.

Psalm or canticle: Psalm 67

Second reading	Hebrews 12:18 - 24 ©
What you have come to is nothing known to the senses: not a blazing fire, or a gloom turning to total darkness, or a storm; or trumpeting thunder or the great voice speaking which made everyone that heard it beg that no more should be said to them. But what you have come to is Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem where the millions of angels have gathered for the festival, with the whole Church in which everyone is a ‘first-born son’ and a citizen of heaven. You have come to God himself, the supreme Judge, and been placed with spirits of the saints who have been made perfect; and to Jesus, the mediator who brings a new covenant and a blood for purification which pleads more insistently than Abel’s.

Second reading

What you have come to is nothing known to the senses: not a blazing fire, or a gloom turning to total darkness, or a storm; or trumpeting thunder or the great voice speaking which made everyone that heard it beg that no more should be said to them. But what you have come to is Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem where the millions of angels have gathered for the festival, with the whole Church in which everyone is a ‘first-born son’ and a citizen of heaven. You have come to God himself, the supreme Judge, and been placed with spirits of the saints who have been made perfect; and to Jesus, the mediator who brings a new covenant and a blood for purification which pleads more insistently than Abel’s.

Gospel	Luke 14:1 - 14 ©
Now on a sabbath day Jesus had gone for a meal to the house of one of the leading Pharisees; and they watched him closely. He then told the guests a parable, because he had noticed how they picked the places of honour. He said this, ‘When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take your seat in the place of honour. A more distinguished person than you may have been invited, and the person who invited you both may come and say, “Give up your place to this man”. And then, to your embarrassment, you would have to go and take the lowest place. No; when you are a guest, make your way to the lowest place and sit there, so that, when your host comes, he may say, “My friend, move up higher”. In that way, everyone with you at the table will see you honoured. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the man who humbles himself will be exalted.’ Then he said to his host, ‘When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not ask your friends, brothers, relations or rich neighbours, for fear they repay your courtesy by inviting you in return. No; when you have a party, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; that they cannot pay you back means that you are fortunate, because repayment will be made to you when the virtuous rise again.’

Gospel

Now on a sabbath day Jesus had gone for a meal to the house of one of the leading Pharisees; and they watched him closely. He then told the guests a parable, because he had noticed how they picked the places of honour. He said this, ‘When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take your seat in the place of honour. A more distinguished person than you may have been invited, and the person who invited you both may come and say, “Give up your place to this man”. And then, to your embarrassment, you would have to go and take the lowest place. No; when you are a guest, make your way to the lowest place and sit there, so that, when your host comes, he may say, “My friend, move up higher”. In that way, everyone with you at the table will see you honoured. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the man who humbles himself will be exalted.’
Then he said to his host, ‘When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not ask your friends, brothers, relations or rich neighbours, for fear they repay your courtesy by inviting you in return. No; when you have a party, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; that they cannot pay you back means that you are fortunate, because repayment will be made to you when the virtuous rise again.’