What's for dinner

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."
Luke 14:12-14

Reflection:
How true Jesus' words are. How often do we hold a dinner party only to have it reciprocated. And some do it for vainglory and selfishness as in the first reading. Like in, how can I use this person for my greater gain. And we do this and have done this for a very long time. Not just in our time but in Jesus' time too. He speaks of this in today's Gospel.

What do we gain by this, but help from those who we wine and dine. We secure a better spot for ourselves in this life. Isn't this truly about all in who you know and how we butter them up or rather grease their palms. So I invite an influential to dinner in hopes they will reciprocate in a way that will benefit me. We think there is nothing wrong in this. But do we love as we should when our motives are for self gain.

Do we do these things for our eternal salvation, of course not. These thoughts are the last thing on our minds when we dine with those who we know can reciprocate in some way. Jesus was showing us today in the Gospel it is about love of neighbor. About being unselfish. How we should not expect to be repaid for the good deeds we do out of the kindness of our hearts.

Saturday I went to a Regional meeting, but on the way there I was thinking that there really is no one out there who is generous. That I have not come across any. Then I asked God to show me one person who is. Well, in a very beautiful way he answered. The meeting by the way had an entrance fee to be there and to pay for the food. If I had known this I would not have said I would go. God bless Linda for her generosity for she paid my way. She will be rewarded by our Father in heaven for the kindness she has done for another. She knows my situation, and out of the goodness of her heart she invited me to go without expecting anything in return. This spoke so loudly of today's Gospel reading that I wanted to share it. Where as another person would have looked away and not done as she did.

So you see, I was also shown one person on that day, and I thank you God for answering the question.