HOMILY FOR 31ST TUESDAY IN ORDINARY TIME — YEAR B
HOMILY FOR 31ST TUESDAY IN ORDINARY TIME — YEAR B
HOMILY THEME: “BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO WILL DINE IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD.”
BY: Fr. Mike Lagrimas
One of his fellow guests on hearing this said to him, “Blessed is the one who will dine in the kingdom of God.” He replied to him, “A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many. When the time for the dinner came, he dispatched his servant to say to those invited, ‘Come, everything is now ready.’ But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves. The first said to him, ‘I have purchased a field and must go to examine it; I ask you, consider me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have purchased five yoke of oxen and am on my way to evaluate them; I ask you, consider me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have just married a woman, and therefore I cannot come.’ The servant went and reported this to his master. Then the master of the house in a rage commanded his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in here the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ The servant reported, ‘Sir, your orders have been carried out and still there is room.’ The master then ordered the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedgerows and make people come in that my home may be filled. For, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.’”
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The Gospel today is the fourth lesson that Jesus gives while at dinner. First, He admonishes the scribes and Pharisees and the other guests not to choose the place of honor at a banquet. Then He gives advice as well to the host: he should not invite family members, relatives, friends and the influential rich for that would not be meritorious. They have the capacity to return the favor, thus, his good deed is already compensated. Instead, he can show genuine generosity by inviting those who cannot repay him: “the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.” Then he “will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
And in today’s Gospel, one of the guests gives a comment to this teaching: “Blessed is the one who will dine in the kingdom of God.” The image of a banquet is commonly used to describe the heavenly kingdom. In response to this comment, Jesus gives a parable as a teaching on humility and a warning against smug complacency and presumption.
The teaching is particularly addressed to the Jews, especially the scribes and Pharisees, who, because they belong to the Chosen People of God, are so proudly confident that they will be invited and admitted into the heavenly banquet. This is definitely an example of ‘entitlement mentality.’ They even go to the extent of thinking that God is obliged to reward them.
In the parable, a man prepares a grand and exquisite dinner party, and invites many guests. When the day arrives, he sends his servers to inform the invited guests to come because “everything is now ready.” Unfortunately, and to the dismay and indignation of the host, they all refuse to come, each with his own excuse. Not only is the host terribly disappointed because they have not taken into consideration the great efforts and expense for the elaborate preparations, but also because they received the invitation well ahead of time, and must have already signified to the host their willingness to attend.
Understandably, the master feels insulted, and in his anger vows: “None of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.” In other words, he takes them out of the list of his favored guests. Then he orders his servants to go out into the streets and invite to his party all those considered marginalized and rejected by society: the poor, the crippled, the blind.
The Jewish people are the ones who were invited first to the heavenly banquet. But when the ‘appointed time’ arrived, and “everything is prepared” with the coming of the Incarnate Son of God, they rejected the invitation. They rejected Jesus and refused to enter the Kingdom He offers to them. Some of them would actually conspire to bring about his death.
Consequently, their place is given to those considered outcasts and undeserving: the poor, the handicapped, public sinners and all the humble and simple people who admit their sinfulness and unworthiness . This is also a symbolic illustration of the fact that the favored status of the Jewish nation as the Chosen People of God is taken away from them, and given to the Gentiles.
God invites everyone to His heavenly banquet. The call to holiness and salvation is universal. And since we belong to His People by virtue of baptism, we are the ones who received the invitation first. But this is not reason for us to boast and disparage others who hold a different faith than ours or who belong to a lower social standing. What happened to the Jews should serve as a strong warning for us. Complacency and arrogance have no room in the lives of Christ’s followers.
Instead, we ought to be eternally grateful that, despite our sins and shortcomings, God still graciously invites us to His heavenly banquet. This must lead us to a spirit of sincere repentance and humility. As the Servant of God Fulton Sheen said, “The humble soul is always the thankful soul.”
At the same time, we also should follow the example of God’s generosity, and be more magnanimous and welcoming to those marginalized by society. After all, according to the lesson of the Beatitudes, it is these people who are truly ‘blessed’, rather than the rich, the famous and the powerful.
Like the Blessed Mother, may we always be ready to say ‘Yes’ to the will of God promptly, consistently and steadfastly at every moment of our earthly life. In this way, we are always ready to respond to the Lord’s invitation to partake in His Royal Banquet prepared for us in His Eternal Kingdom.
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