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Commentary to the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary time – Year C

Fernando Armellini - Sat, Aug 27th 2022

IT’S POSSIBLE TO EXPERIENCE GOD’S JOY

Introduction

We are in a luxurious country house of the high bourgeoisie of a large Third World city, one of those metropolises where misery coexists with the most unashamed luxury and waste. At the end of the party for the daughter's twentieth birthday—a brilliant university student—the parents order the two servants to fix the room. Here's the surprise: the table was still full of so many leftover meats, rice, chips, cakes, and pastries. ‘What do we do with all this stuff?’—the embarrassed husband asks. His wife is carrying a tray full of glasses to the kitchen to wash. Surprised, she stops for a moment then, as if she later realized the mistake done, adds: ‘We have invited the wrong people: people who were not hungry.’

We are afraid of being approached by those who are hungry, of being infected by their poverty. And yet the feast of our life could end in bitter disappointment: not knowing what to do with the goods that the Lord had given us to ‘feed’ his poor.

"Happy are those invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb!"—exclaims the angel of the Apocalypse (Rev 19:9). But only those who have deprived themselves of everything to give it to those who were hungry will be able to participate in that feast.

To internalize the message, we repeat: "The poor man knocks on my door to offer me an opportunity to experience the joy of God."

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First Reading: Sirach 3:17-20,28-29

My child, conduct your affairs with humility, and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts. Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with God. What is too sublime for you, seek not, into things beyond your strength search not. The mind of a sage appreciates proverbs, and an attentive ear is the joy of the wise. Water quenches a flaming fire, and alms atone for sins. —The Word of the Lord.

 

Is it necessary to seek the contempt of others to be humble? It would not be wise and would not make sense. This attitude would not attract—as Sirach ensures—human love and the benevolence of God. So what behavior attracts the sympathy of people and the favor of the Lord? How does the humble render him ‘glory?’ (v. 20). A quick check is sufficient, a simple insight to realize that all that we are is a gift of God. Life, beauty, strength, intelligence, and all the qualities we have come from him. Nothing is ours; there is nothing we can boast of.

To show off God’s gift as if they were one’s own is not evil but ridiculous. Whoever flaunts the qualities he has received to impose oneself on others is foolish. The gifts of God were given to us so that we could make them blessings to our brothers and sisters.

Humble is the one who—well aware of his talents, aptitudes, and abilities—puts oneself at the service of all. He considers the others as masters to whom he can ask for help when in need. The humble keeps his head down, like someone always ready to receive orders from the superiors. He ‘glorifies’ God because what gives ‘glory’ to God is the joy of people. The humble establishes relationships that make people happy, puts an end to selfishness, competition, and ostentation, and introduces in the world the new principle of free exchange of God's gifts. In this sense that Jesus defines himself as "meek and humble of heart" (Mt 11:29): he gave all of himself unreservedly for love.

Second Reading: Hebrews 12:18-19,22-24a

Brothers and sisters: You have not approached that which could be touched and a blazing fire and gloomy darkness and storm and a trumpet blast and a voice speaking words such that those who heard begged that no message be further addressed to them. No, you have approached Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and countless angels in festal gathering, and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven, and God the judge of all, and the spirits of the just made perfect, and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and the sprinkled blood that speaks more eloquently than that of Abel. —The Word of the Lord.

 

The Jews who were converted to Christianity continued to have a certain nostalgia for the religion of their fathers. The letter's author to the Hebrews seeks to enlighten them by comparing the ancient religion, represented by Mount Sinai, and the Christian religion, whose symbol is the new Jerusalem. What happened at Sinai? There were tongues of fire, thunder, darkness, and gloom. In such a spectacle, the people were afraid and asked Moses to speak and not the Lord (vv. 18-19). How can we long for God, who cannot be approached except through intermediaries?

Christians—the reading continues—did not approach Mount Sinai to have a terrifying experience of God (v. 22). Christians come closer to Christ. The religious background is entirely different: it is that of the feast because they discover in Jesus the face of God who loves people (vv. 23-24). In the Old Testament, there were many mediators between God and the people: the chief priests, the Levites, the Sanhedrin, and the elderly. Christians today know that they can directly approach the Father without reservation or fear. The only mediator is Christ, who does not seek servants but friends (Jn 15:15).

Gospel: Luke 14:1,7-14

On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully.

He told a parable to those who had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table. “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place. Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say, ‘My friend, move up to a higher position.’ Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Then he said to the host who invited him, “When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. 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.” —The Gospel of the Lord.

 

In Israel, lunch on Saturday was not reduced to a simple meal. It was a banquet where relatives and friends met and conversed on various topics. They talked about work, politics, family, and social problems. The religious themes, theological and moral, were treated especially when a rabbi was among the guests. The teachers and the doctors of the law took advantage of these banquets to expose their doctrines. Jesus also gave many of his teachings at table (Lk 5:29; 7:36; 9:17; 10:38; 11:37; 14; 19:1; 22:7-38).

Today’s passage is to be placed in the context of a festive symposium. We are in the house of a Pharisee, at the end of the liturgy in the synagogue, and Jesus is one of the guests (v. 1). One does not sit anywhere at a table. A rigid etiquette is observed as there are hierarchies to be respected. Seats are allocated very carefully: at the center are the people of honor, beside them the host and then all the rest arranged at tables given their social position, the religious function they perform, the wealth they own, an arrangement made by one of the servants. He observes the embarrassment of those who, perhaps inadvertently, have brought themselves a bit too far ahead and must retreat to some positions. Jesus sees the undisguised complacency of those who hold off but eventually agree to occupy a more central and prestigious place. He notices the awkward attitudes, redness, and clumsiness. He introduces the first parable (vv. 7-11).

"Whenever you are invited, go rather to the lowest seat so that your host may come and say to you: ‘friend, you must come up higher.’ And this will be a great honor for you in the presence of all the other guests" (v. 10).This invitation to be cunning is not in tune with Jesus’ forthright approach that we are used to. Strangely, he would condescend to suggest a mean trick to be honored in public. Besides, the proverb he cites is well known in Israel because it is in the Bible: "Do not boast before the king or put yourself among the great. It would be better to be invited, “come up here” than be humiliated after having seen the prince" (Pro 25:6-7). Rabbi Simeon, a contemporary of the apostles, recommended his disciple: ‘Stay two or three places lower than what's yours and wait so that he says to you: come up higher. It is better to hear him say: come up higher! Come up higher! Rather than, move below! Move below!’ Jesus, therefore merely repeats a recommended practice by all.

True, the words are the same, but the content is different. Jesus has no intention of making his disciples crafty. He has never shown interest in letting them be honored in life. When they showed the ambition of taking the first places, he reprimanded them severely. (Mk 9:33-37). He even forbade the use of honorary titles (Mt 23:8-10), would not tolerate the ‘habits’ who consecrate and make caste sacred, was ironic of the scribes "who like to walk in long robes, and are happy to be greeted in the marketplaces, have the best seats in the synagogues and the best places at feasts" (Lk 20:46). In Jesus' mouth, the proverb’s purpose is not teaching a tactic to succeed. Let us try to understand.

If we re-read the passage carefully, we see that the word ‘invited’ occurs more often than others (five times!). The Greek word of the original text should be translated as ‘called.’ Jesus addresses this to those called and aspire for the first places. They must, therefore, be identified. We note another detail: the way Jesus took the floor is surprising. That is not how he intervenes in other people’s houses. He does not speak as a guest but as if he is the host.

It takes these two simple observations to make us guess that the Supper of Jesus on Palestinian land is an artificial setting. Luke uses it to put in the mouth of the Lord a lesson to the called ones, that is, the Christians of his communities. Dissensions and disagreements in matters of precedence often explode in these communities. The presbyters, the heads of the various ministries desire to occupy the ‘first places.’ It is an eternal problem of the Church: everyone should serve, but, in practice, there is always someone who aspires for honorary titles, wants to be noticed, swells with pride, and comes to change even the Eucharist as an occasion for self-celebration. Here is the cancer that destroys our communities!

Jesus knew how much tension would arise among his disciples because of the frenzy for the top places. For that matter, at the Last Supper, he recalled once more lesson. He wanted this to remain etched in everyone's mind as his testament: "For who is the greatest, he who sits at the table or he who serves? He who is seated, isn’t it? Yet I am among you as the one who serves" (Lk 22:27).

Jesus does not ask—as Rabbi Simeon did—to move back two or three places but to reverse the positions, to overturn the scale of values. Only those who choose, as he did, the servant's place will be exalted during the only banquet that counts, that of the Kingdom of God. For whoever received bows and honors on earth, the banquet at the kingdom will be dramatic. He will see himself relegated to the last place, a sign of life’s failure, demonstrating that the values ??on which he has staked were temporary and fleeting.

After telling the parable, Jesus turns to the Pharisee who invited him: "When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors ..." (v. 12). I would not say that the ambiance created at the table is the best: Jesus is taking it up with everyone. What was the fault of poor Pharisees when the Israel tradition imposed inviting only four categories of people: friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors? Was it convenient to bring together at the table a lawyer and a shepherd or an ignorant Pharisee and a tax collector?

We have already noticed it: it is not Jesus seated at a meal in a house of a Palestinian who is talking, but it is the Risen Lord who turns to the Pharisees present in the communities of Luke. It is Christ who makes recommendations to the disciples who act as Pharisees who discriminate. And what does he say? He says that they must begin a new banquet wherein the four categories of "good people" give way to another four: "When you give a feast, invite instead the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind" (v. 13).

The disabled, the blind, and the lame were not allowed into the temple of the Lord (Lev 21:18; 2 S 5:8). Their condition was a clear sign of their sin, and the assembly of the Israelites was to be composed of people of integrity, perfection, purity, and flawlessness. Jesus announces that he has come to begin a new feast, a banquet where the excluded, those rejected by everyone, become the first guests to whom the seats of honor are reserved.

His speech is aimed at all those who, in the Christian community, are responsible for organizing the banquet of the Kingdom. The courage to follow the new criteria, as opposed to those adopted by civil society,is asked of them.

It is not easy for the Christian communities to assimilate the criteria of God. From the very beginning,tensions arose in the Church because of the discriminations dictated by the criteria of this world. James testifies to that in his letter; he is forced to remind the Christians. He says, "Suppose a person enters the synagogue where you are assembled, dressed magnificently and wearing a gold ring; at the same time, a poor person enters dressed in rags. If you focus your attention on the well dressed and say, ‘Come and sit in the best seat’ while to the poor one you say, ‘Stay standing or else sit down at my feet’ have you not made a distinction between the two?" (Jas 2:2-4).

The poor, the blind, the disabled, and the lame represent those people who did wrong in life. They symbolize those who walk without the light of the Gospel and stumble, fall and hurt themselves and others, switching from one error to another. Jesus reminds his disciples that the feast was organized just for them. It is a woe to exclude them.

Concluding his exhortation, he welcomes all those rejected by others by saying: "Fortunate are you then because they cannot repay you; you will be repaid at the resurrection of the upright" (v. 14). When people do a favor, they immediately think of the payback; almost instinctively, they calculate the benefits derived. This logic is well illustrated by the recommendation of Hesiod (VIII B.C.): ‘Invite to the table those who love you and forget the enemy. Love who loves you; go to one who comes to you. Give to him who gives you; do not give to those who do not give.’

Jesus asks the disciples to love freely, to do good in pure loss. He recommends welcoming home those who cannot give anything in return. God will provide the reward in heaven. This statement needs clarification. The call to help the poor, thinking of the wealth accumulated in heaven, can still be selfish behavior. It is using the poor to ‘transfer one’s capitals to heaven.’ This love is detestable; it is sneaky.

The poor must be loved because they are lovable, not out of sympathy or assuming an attitude of arrogant superiority (perhaps even only spiritual). Indeed, it is not easy to find something nice, attractive in an enemy or a criminal. Human eyes would never be able to see something lovable in these people if the word of the Lord does not purify the looks; does not cure the blindness. It is Jesus who makes us understand that if God loves every person, it means that in every person, there is always something wonderful.

What will be the reward? Those who seek only their brother’s good become like the Father who is in heaven. They experience God’s joy. God's happiness is all about loving freely. It fulfills the promise of Jesus: "Your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High" (Lk 6:35). We cannot expect more.

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