Daily Gospel Reflection
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September 1, 2019
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 every one 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.”
When reading the gospel today, my first thought was, “that’s not how any of this is supposed to work,” followed closely by, “that’s not fair.” Conventional wisdom tells us that it’s important to work hard and get ahead in life. Those of us who are alumni made it to Notre Dame by studying for exams, working hard in school, and throwing ourselves into extracurricular activities. We excelled at Notre Dame by studying, working, researching, and interning. If I talk about a project I’m working on, friends still respond, “that will look great on your resume.” When my wife and I were planning our wedding, we talked frequently about the people we “had” to invite for her career. We go to the company holiday party to be seen and we make small talk with executives. We are always working for the next raise, bonus, promotion, or position.
Jesus has a very different message for us: he tells us to humble ourselves, to “invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind” to our banquets. Jesus is imploring us to enter into relationships that are not transactional.
For many years, I have lived in the House of the Little Flower Catholic Worker Community. In our eight years, we have welcomed more than seventy-five friends into our extended community. Some guests have lived in our main house of hospitality, others have lived in our neighborhood community, some just drop by weekly to join us for our dinners. Our community is comprised of hospitality workers, stay at home moms, immigrants, lawyers, teachers, social workers, community organizers, those between jobs and looking for jobs. We all come to the Worker because, in the words of Dorothy Day, “we have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only answer is love and with love comes community.” Collectively, we have taken each other to the doctor, visited each other in the hospital, held each other’s babies. We celebrate holidays, birthdays, and sacramental moments. If there is a need in the community, we collectively rise to meet it. Blessed are we indeed; in our inability to repay each other, we have encountered Christ in each other.
Prayer
God of all consolation, Your Son told the Pharisee that he should host not the rich and well known, but should instead invite the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Help us to be obedient to that command, so that in showing love to those whom you love, we may come to a better understanding of your Mystery. May we not be people who crave repayment, but instead make us people of charity and love for all your children wherever they may be. Through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Saint of the Day
For a number of centuries, St. Giles was one of the most popular saints in the Church—he was numbered among the 14 Holy Helpers, saints invoked for the protection against the plague.
Because of his popularity, stories about St. Giles exaggerated the historical facts of his life. The most that we can tell for certain is that he was a hermit or monk who lived near the mouth of the Rhone river in southern France sometime around the seventh century.
One of the legends that arose around his life states that he was born in Athens, Greece. It is said that as a young man, he cured a beggar when he gave him his cloak. After working other wonders, he escaped the adulation of others by traveling to France to live in solitude in a cave.
He lived in such isolation that God sent a deer to nourish him with her milk. When the local king was hunting in the forest, his party found the deer and pursued it until it hid in Giles’ cave. The cave was covered by brush, and the hunters shot arrows into the obscured opening, trying to hit the deer; an arrow struck Giles instead. The king expressed remorse and promised to send his physician to care for Giles, but Giles refused any compensation, and instead encouraged the king to build a monastery. He agreed, on the condition that Giles serve as its abbot.
Because of his injury from the arrow, Giles is patron saint of those who have a disability, and his help is also invoked by those suffering from cancer. His relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
St. Giles, patron saint of those with a disability or who are fighting cancer—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Giles is in the public domain. Last accessed April 2, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
