A Home For the Poor: Sunday Reflection

This morning’s Gospel reading is Luke 14:1, 7–14:

On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully.

He told a parable to those who had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table. “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place. Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say, ‘My friend, move up to a higher position.’ Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Then 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 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.”

 Who are the “poor”?

Today’s readings seem providentially chosen for this holiday weekend. Tomorrow is Labor Day, which in the US and (and May Day in the rest of the West) stands a bit in contrast to the standard of living we enjoy. Poverty, as seen in previous centuries, is nearly — although not entirely — unknown in this age. We have taken the Lord’s bounty, developed systems that allow for reasonably just distribution that ensures that entire populations are lifted up. Even the labor we celebrate on Labor Day has been refined and right-sized to the potential of flourishing and fulfillment. Subsistence labor that was not just common but practically universal two centuries ago has been replaced with standard work weeks, improved by mechanization, and lives extended by massive advances in medical care. 

With that said, we can certainly see some of the “poor” among us. Jesus offers us examples in His Gospel teaching today that remain with us — the crippled, lame, and blind, as well as those truly poor in a material sense. And even in an age where material wealth and standards of living are as broadly and positively delivered, we know that poverty exists, relatively speaking or not, and that some barely struggle to survive. 

Jesus speaks to us in this sense as much as he did to the Pharisee who had graciously invited him to dinner. The point of gathering together should be for fellowship among all, and not just to advance in materialism. Jesus spoke rather directly about the social-climbing aspects of human sociology, which is also with us to this day, along with the arrogance and pride that went along with it. 

However, there is another point to be made in this lesson. What happens when we bring the poor to the table, along with the wealthy and well-off? They become visible to us. It is impossible to shut one’s eyes to poverty when it sits across the dinner table from us. Their presence forces us to encounter poverty in a personal way, to account for it in our own lives and actions, and reminds us that we share the same human nature as those less well off from us. For anyone with any spiritual sense at all, that alone would be a humbling experience. It should prompt us to act in true caritas to embrace the poor as well as those better off, and to help alleviate suffering where we can.

This is not the end of the lesson for this parable, though. It brings us back to the question of who exactly the poor are. And the answer can be found in our first reading from the Book of Sirach today:

My child, conduct your affairs with humility, and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts. Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with God. What is too sublime for you, seek not, into things beyond your strength search not. The mind of a sage appreciates proverbs, and an attentive ear is the joy of the wise. Water quenches a flaming fire, and alms atone for sins.

What does it mean to “humble yourself,” as the prophet urges us? It does not mean to feign humility, or to act poor while hoarding wealth and/or power. False modesty is just another form of dishonesty in insincerity. To humble ourselves in accordance with this teaching means to recognize our true humility, and then to act in integrity with that realization. This passage calls us to recognize our own poverty before the Lord, and to put our faith and trust in Him rather than arrogate and usurp His authority. 

In this sense, Jesus teaches the Pharisee and His audience that all are truly humble before the Lord — the wealthy and the poor, the powerful and the powerless, the healthy and the afflicted. These conditions are consequences of worldly circumstances and behavior, not measures by which the Lord judges us. Inviting the poor to table in Jesus’ teaching isn’t so much an act of charity as it is a reminder that we are all poor in spirit, and will be until we recognize this basic truth about our relationship to the Lord.  

Finally, this passage gives us comfort in the full context of the Word. Why? Because Jesus follows His own parable and invites the poor to the table of salvation. We participate in the Last Supper at every Mass, coming to the table in our poverty to commune with the Lord and the saints. Revelation reminds us that we can hope to come to the full Supper of the Lamb at the end of time to join Jesus and the saints at the table, as poor as we are, in and through His loving embrace and intervention. 

Who are the poor? We all are, and yet Jesus loves us and died for us so that we may sit at His table. He built a home for the poor, and all we need do is to recognize our poverty and humility to get an invitation to the feast.  

A blessed and happy Labor Day weekend to all of you!

Previous reflections on these readings:

The front page image is the Tapestry of the Last Supper at the Gallery of St. Pius V, Vatican Museum. From my personal collection. 

“Sunday Reflection” is a regular feature that looks at the specific readings used in today’s Mass in Catholic parishes around the world. The reflection represents only my own point of view, intended to help prepare myself for the Lord’s day and perhaps spark a meaningful discussion. Previous Sunday Reflections from the main page can be found here.