Don’t blow it.
How selective are you when sending out invitations? Who makes up your guest list? How do you prioritize some guests over others? How do you work out who you really want there and who can be left off the wedding guest list altogether?
One time, in one of the parishes where I worked, we were organizing and planning for a parish social event where the dinner would be catered. We needed to get the number of those attending for proper planning. During one of those planning periods, a member of the planning team informed me that someone had invited four people to our event, and those invited were not members of our parish. I did respond, “That would be fine.” To my surprise, the person said to me, “They are all coming for free food.”
Free food? In the gospel, Jesus says to give them free food if they have the means. Jesus encourages us to be open-minded and generous to our neighbors and friends, including the poor, beggars, lepers, widows, and other people with no material wealth to repay him. Rich friends and neighbors don’t necessarily lack food in their homes, but the poor and the needy do. Jesus said, “Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters, that you do unto me.”
Invite those who can’t repay you, Jesus says, for then you have an opportunity to receive a reward from God. Just inviting those of the same or higher social standing is its own reward. You have an opportunity to receive a blessing from God. He tells his host. Don’t blow it.
Through this parable, Jesus taught that the kingdom was available even to those considered “unclean” or “downtrodden.” (cf. Acts 10). His involvement with tax collectors and sinners brought condemnation from the Pharisees, yet it showed the extent of God’s grace (Matthew 9:10-11). “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.” (Luke 19:10)
Jesus knows our hearts and poses a radical challenge to you and me. He invites us to have a free and open heart that does not seek any recompense for being generous: that is its own reward. He invites us to a “road less traveled,” for us to be dependent on Him. This is what lies at the basis of this seemingly irrational demand of Jesus: we are the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind whom God has invited to his Eucharistic banquet. Let us try to do the same with others. Don’t blow it.
