TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME YEAR C

First Reading (Sir 3:19-21, 30-31)

Second Reading (Heb 12:18-19, 22-24a)

Gospel (Luke 14:1, 7-14)



“An honest man does not make himself a dog for the sake of a bone” – Danish proverb



There are some among us who want only to see the Jesus who is praying not sitting at the table, attends feasts, jokes and simply being an ordinary person. The Jesus who appears to be human annoys some people.



Our God is a God who wants to be with us, who eats with us, shares our games, and likes to see us cheerful, serene, and full of joy.



When you are invited for a meal you need to slow your feet when taking your sitting position at table, its good manners to wait for the host to show you where to sit, you don’t take a seat randomly. In Israel hierarchies are to be respected also when taking meal, so places are fixed with great attention. The most important guest is asked to sit at the centre, with the honest next to him, and then all the others according to age. This is a normal rule, but there is always somebody, of course, who likes to come before another and so he tries to sneak past and take somebody else’s place higher up, closer to the centre.



Jesus smiles as he watches these manoeuvres and then decides to tell them the first parable (7-11). “Do not take seats at a place of honour during wedding feast…make your way to the lowest and sit there, so that when your host comes, he may say: my friend, move up higher. Then everyone with you at the table will see you honourerd”



Let there be clarity, the taking of the lowest seats was not said by Jesus and its not him who invented it, it was simply common among the Israelites and it was a common saying got from the book of ( proverb 25:6-7) but is new is the content, the teaching. Jesus has no intention of teaching tricks to his disciples and never manifested any kind of interest for their success.



The question is why does Jesus quote this proverb? To his disciples to take always the last place, but not to be praised by people, obviously but to be acknowledged great in the sight of God. The most important person in the Christian community, family is the last one, the one that serves all the others.



Jesus knows that this cancer is present in most Christian communities and he is telling his disciples very clearly to avoid fights over positions. This is very common in most of our Christian communities especially whenever there is an Episcopal visitation; there is always this debate of who will sit with the bishop? All sorts of drama, bickering and inn house passive fights. Surely how can this happen in a Christian community?



It’s quite rare to find somebody who helps a stranger. Jesus recommends helping those who cannot repay or give anything in exchange. Why? So that we may get the reward from heaven





“It’s a fine thing to be honest but it is also very important to be right” – Winston Churchill