Respond to the Invitation

^“6We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us” (Romans 12:6) This statement precedes some ethical admonitions for those who Paul proclaims are members of the Body of Christ in the text today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary. The theme of these admonitions, as noted by Friar Jude Winkler, is that each member of the Body of Christ has a responsibility to use the grace or gift of God to serve others. A difficulty of service is hinted to by the psalmist today when we position ourselves as ones who are not occupied with things too great or too marvellous. Of course, the invitation of Jesus to relationship with God is beyond anything we understand or deserve. The parable of the great dinner from the Gospel of Luke tells us that too often we back away from this invitation with poor excuses. Don Schwager quotes Dieterich Bonhoeffer in a reflection on the awesome responsibility that goes with the free gift of grace. “Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ.” The power of grace enables the action in our life as we journey in the metaphor of Luke “with Jesus to Jerusalem” to be as full of zeal and compassion as that described by Paul to the Romans.