Monday, October 31, 2016
31st Week in
Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Phil 2: 1-4
Gospel: Lk 14:12–14
Jesus addressed the man who had invited him and said, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends, or your brothers and relatives and wealthy neighbors. For surely they will also invite you in return and you will be repaid. When you give a feast, invite instead the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind. Fortunate are you then, because they can’t repay you; you will be repaid at the Resurrection of the upright.”
DAiGITAL EXPERIENCE
Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life
Experience
My firsthand experience with the charitable works of the Gothongs of Cebu was when Manang Virgie was diagnosed with breast cancer. I had deep respect for her because her family housed me when as a seminarian I was assigned to the Southern part of Cebu for pastoral exposure. She was hesitant to go through the urgently needed medical procedures because of financial considerations. She would have to sell her house to do that. I recommended her to the Gothongs. The assistance was personal and immediate – personal because I am a friend of the family, and immediate because a poor person they did not even know needed urgent help.
When Albino Gothong was alive, no food caterer looked forward to his birthday. He was not throwing a birthday party for his friends because he found giving the birthday party budget to the poor more meaningful. We see so much wisdom in this attitude. Wealthy guests will find expensive food ordinary, but they will expect it. The poor will find the same food extraordinary and will be thankful to God for the rest of their lives. The gratitude of the poor is sweet because their thanksgiving comes from a non-expectant heart surprised to the highest levels. This is the kind of thanksgiving that reverberates through the corridors of heaven.
When you invite a wealthy guest, they will come with expensive gifts. Later they will also invite you to their special occasions and treat you like a king. It’s different when you invite poor people. The only thing poor people can do is to summon the blessings of God upon the host. Some don’t, but God’s blessings will pour down on the host just the same. When Jesus said ‘whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers you do unto me’, he was assuring his listeners that God will take it personally what people do to their poor fellows.
Today’s Gospel assures us, “When you give a feast, invite instead the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind. Fortunate are you then, because they can’t repay you; you will be repaid at the Resurrection of the upright” (Luke 14:14). ? – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM, MMExM, MAPM, REB. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com.
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