Luke 14:12-14

Lectio (Reading)

On a sabbath Jesus went to dine
at the home of one of the leading Pharisees.
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 sisters
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.”

Meditatio (Reflecting)

When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers 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;

Oratio (Responding)

This is one of those hard sayings of Jesus, and He means for us all to hear it. At the time of Jesus, many would hold parties and invite only the rich and powerful. This was done for the sole reason of possibly getting invited to a bigger and more lavish party, with more rich and powerful people. Jesus is turning this all upside down, He wants us to give without any consideration or anything in return.

But we live in a dangerous world, full of dangerous and unpredictable people. We are afraid of inviting people we don’t know into our homes, let alone the poor, crippled and blind. I have heard stories of people inviting less fortunate into their homes, and being robbed and harmed or even murdered as a result. This leads to fear of the same happening to me, and the locks on my door stay shut. But Jesus here, is clearly calling us to more.

So how do I invite strangers into my home, and put my family at risk. I dont know, and I am not saying that you must do this, but it should make us sit up and take notice of the world around us, and what more we can do to help those in need. Maybe inviting many to our party is the answer, allowing the crowd to regulate the outliers among itself. Maybe this means that we need to donate more, and that we should volunteer at the food center? I dont know, but more needs to be done, and we all need to consider this call more deeply.

Contemplatio (Contemplating)

Take time to simply remain in the presence of God.

Resolutio (Resolving)