Tuesday of Week 31 of Ordinary Time – First Reading
Commentary on Romans 12:5-16
As Paul comes to the end of his Letter (we will finish reading it this week), in his usual way he has some advice of a practical nature for the Christian community in Rome. This does not mean that he has not said anything about Christian living up to this point, but he now goes into detail to show that Jesus Christ is to be Lord in every area of our life. These chapters are not a postscript to the great theological discussions we have seen so far. What he has said about God and our relationship to him in Jesus Christ must also flow out into the way we behave and relate to each other. True faith cannot stand by itself. It must find expression in the way we act:
…the only thing that counts is faith working through love.
(Gal 5:6)
This means submitting ourselves totally to Jesus Christ and his Way.
Paul begins with a critical statement on which all that follows depends:
…so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.
It is not just that each one of us through baptism is united with Christ, but that because of the presence of Christ in each one of us, we are essentially united to each other in one family. In his First Letter to the Corinthians Paul speaks of this at length. Speaking to the Christians he says plainly:
Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. (1 Cor 12:27)
This is the basis for all that follows. We can only love and serve Christ in loving and serving each other. Christians are not isolated individuals. The community forms an interlocking and interdependent relationship in which each member offers their particular gift or charism in the service of the whole community.
Although we are united together as brothers and sisters in one family, there are important differences between each person. Unity implies diversity. Each one has been endowed with a distinct gift or ‘charism’ by which one serves the community in a unique way. These gifts are to be openly acknowledged and used for the good of the community and for individuals in it.
Paul then mentions some of these gifts:
God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Cor 9:7)
Paul then goes on to some more general advice on the kind of attitudes that individuals should have in their mutual relationships. He mentions things like:
…love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.
What he urges is real love and not just ‘charity’.
Living in a society where Christians were suspected, hated and attacked, he urges them to “bless” their persecutors and not to curse them. This is advice that Jesus himself had given. To pay back one’s persecutors in kind is to bring oneself down to their level. Blessing and praying for them is not only not impossible; it is the only way to bring about change—in them and us. Therefore, St Paul adds:
Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.
Elsewhere Paul, speaking of himself will say that he is all things to all people. He adapts himself to their needs, which is not at all the same as doing just what they want.
Finally, he urges each person to “live in harmony with one another”. Not in the sense of being blind to each one’s virtues and defects, but as God himself does, to reach out impartially to all with the same measure of love and concern, to be free of bias and prejudice and to act with real justice.
Reflecting on this passage, we can each ask ourselves what particular gifts has God given to me with which to serve both our Church community and the wider community? How often do I actually think about this?
It is something which, to some extent, we have lost in many of our parishes. So often in our Mass assemblies—which often is the only time we get together—we come as private families or as individuals with little concern or interest for those around us. “I go to the 11 o’clock Mass because the time is convenient and I like the choir.” By being “at” Mass I have fulfilled my “weekly duty”. Is that what the Eucharist is about? Where is that interlocking and interdependent community that Paul speaks about here?
The second part of the reading concerns more about how each individual, and we today, could usefully make an examination of conscience on the headings that Paul lists to evaluate how well we are doing. Although they concern each individual, they are all linked to our relations with others.
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Tuesday of Week 31 of Ordinary Time – Gospel
Commentary on Luke 14:15-24
Today we have the last of four teachings of Jesus linked with meals. It was prompted by the remark of a guest at table who said:
Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!
It was very common to associate the future Messianic Kingdom with a banquet. Jesus responds with a parable which is a warning to his complacent listeners, many of whom probably smugly presumed that they would be among the small minority chosen to eat in the Kingdom.
A man threw a large dinner party with many guests invited. But when the time came and the guests were reminded, one after another they gave excuses why they were not able to come. One had just bought a piece of land and had to inspect it; another had just bought some oxen and had to try them out; a third had just been married.
It seems that the original invitation had been accepted, but when the final invitation came, excuses were made. In fact, none of the excuses has much validity. One would not buy a field and only then look at it, nor would one buy oxen without having tried them out before the purchase.
On hearing this, the master got very angry and ordered his servants to:
Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.
After this, the servants reported that there was still room, so they were given orders to scour the roads and bring in as many as they could find. Said the host:
Go out into the roads and lanes, and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled.
The parable is a clear message from Jesus to his Jewish listeners. Many of them, especially the religious leaders steeped in complacency and presumption, had rejected the invitation to follow Jesus and enter the Kingdom. Some of them would actually conspire to bring about his death. Their place would be given to those formerly seen as outcasts, both Jews and Gentiles, people aware of their needs, i.e. the “poor in spirit”. There would be a special place for the poor and the disabled, people often seen by traditional Jews as people abandoned by God and buried in sin.
To go back to the beginning of the passage, blessed indeed are those who eat together in the Kingdom, but it is clear that only those who respond to the invitation will enjoy the privilege.
We have no more right to presumption than those Jews who rejected Christ. We too are being invited to go into the Lord’s banquet hall, but it is important that we respond to the call. We do that by our totally accepting and living out the teaching of Jesus our Lord. And part of that teaching is that we, too, invite and welcome into our community those who are poor, crippled (in some way), the blind and the lame—taking these words in their broadest sense. No more than those fellow diners of Jesus, our presence at the Kingdom banquet is never to be taken for granted.
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