Monday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s Reflection
Gospel: Lk 14: 12-14
November 6, 2023 | Monday
Jesus also 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 then, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the upright.”
Today’s Reflection:
Today’s gospel mentions “The upright”, a keyword in the gospel passage that would refer to a person blessed after doing good to those less fortunate neighbors of ours who are not even capable of returning the favor to us after we give. It simply means that not all who extend favors to others, especially the poor find favor in the eyes of God. The intentions of the heart of the giver matter as well. Some people give because they have plenty. Others give in order to gain control or boost their pride. But it is a lot more different when we give because we know how it feels to have nothing. Let us be reminded of the words of Saint Augustine: “Pride lurks even in good works in order to destroy it.” / Vulnerasti, 2023
