Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint 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.”
What’s in your heart
Today I would like to begin in a different way, with a story. Once upon a time, there was a monk who had a beautiful garden in his home; every day he took care of it with much love and enthusiasm. It was truly beautiful, and he took the opportunity to pray there. But he had a complicated and envious neighbor who resented this lovely garden. One day, this neighbor took a bag full of garbage and threw it in the middle of the monk’s garden. The next day the monk saw the state of his garden.
In a situation like this, there are three attitudes that you and I can take:
1) Get back at him. Yes, we can get rid of the anger we feel by seeking revenge and destroying that person who filled with garbage the most beautiful thing we had. We double down on the bet.
2) Not saying anything. We swallow our feelings, and do not say anything to anyone, but then everything goes on growing inside us. We may even fall into the situation of crying but not giving reasons why to anyone. We clean the garden, do nothing else and try to go on with our life.
3) Giving. First, we clean the garden and take out all the garbage. Then we pick some flowers and plants, go to the neighbor who threw the garbage and give them to him. We give him back something different so that he can make his own garden beautiful. This is, by the way, the attitude that the monk took. The neighbor said to the monk, “I don’t understand, I filled your garden with garbage and in return you bring me beautiful flowers and plants”. The monk replied, “The thing is that each one gives only what he has in his heart”.
The Pharisees are negative towards Jesus and seek to harm him. There are negative people around and you may even have to live with unfriendly people who fill your life with negativity (garbage). You must remember that in your life you give what you have. Having Jesus is the best way to get out of the negativity of those people, because Jesus gives you dignity and reminds you that you are valuable. Humility is what will keep you from falling into a garbage dump, from being a toxic person, and wisdom will help you to know when to say things. Be more like the monk: clean your life of those grudges and pains that you were left with and take out all the garbage, perhaps by talking to someone about what is happening to you. And as you have a nice garden – a beautiful life worth living – share it with those who still fail to see the beautiful things in life.
God bless you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Never forget that Heaven is our goal.
