LUCAS 14: 12-14 says: 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, or your 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, because they cannot repay you; you will repaid at the resurrection of the upright.”
Here Jesus develops a biblical proverb inviting us to be modest in social gatherings (Pro 25:6-7). Such behavior befits God’s children. Whatever the area of human activity may be, we should let others seek the first place, while stepping on other people as they do so. We know that what matters is not what is seen: God knows how to exalt the humble and place them where it best suits him.
Moreover, when we go from the earthly church to the kingdom of heaven, there will be changes in who occupies the first places. Someone who was pope, or bishop or a prominent “Catholic” may count less than the little old lady who was selling newspapers.
Everyone of us seeks to be near those who are above us, since we think we benefit more from being connected with those who are superior than with those who are inferior.
Jesus’ warning points to one of the main cause of injustice. We all share in the guilt when we decide with whom it is more beneficial to be associated; consequently everyone tries to climb higher, always leaving
the weakest in the most isolated and helpless position.
It would be a strange sight to see public officials pay more attention to the poorly dressed, or to see the poorest areas supplied with water and power before the residential districts, or to see doctors go to the rural areas to practice.
In many parts of the Old Testament there was talk of a “banquet” that God would prepare for good people, for his servants, when he would come to establish his kingdom. Jesus also developed this theme many times because the banquet represents the community of saints. The parable here is very similar to the one which Matthew relates in 22; 1. I believe, as Christians we all have a place in the Kingdom of God, but we have to put into practice our faith. We have to live together as brothers and sisters in one community of Christians. I believe also that we should support the CBCP, who calls on President Duterte to stop his war on drugs. That is inhuman. The drug-user needs rehabilitation and the pusher can be put in jail until he regrets his sins. Then we are becoming a real Christian community and we have a right place in there.
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