The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to participate in the building of our communities as we respond to the needs that the less privileged bring to our attention.
Self empty our privilege
The reading from the Letter of Paul to the Philippians praises Jesus' action of emptying himself.
* [2:6–11] Perhaps an early Christian hymn quoted here by Paul. The short rhythmic lines fall into two parts, Phil 2:6–8 where the subject of every verb is Christ, and Phil 2:9–11 where the subject is God. The general pattern is thus of Christ’s humiliation and then exaltation. More precise analyses propose a division into six three-line stanzas (Phil 2:6; 7abc, 7d–8, 9, 10, 11) or into three stanzas (Phil 2:6–7ab, 7cd–8, 9–11). Phrases such as even death on a cross (Phil 2:8c) are considered by some to be additions (by Paul) to the hymn, as are Phil 2:10c, 11c.1
Psalm 22 is a plea for deliverance from suffering and hostility.
* [22:27] The poor: originally the poor, who were dependent on God; the term (‘anawim) came to include the religious sense of “humble, pious, devout.”2
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus uses the Parable of the Great Dinner to alert us to our misguided priorities.
* [14:15–24] The parable of the great dinner is a further illustration of the rejection by Israel, God’s chosen people, of Jesus’ invitation to share in the banquet in the kingdom and the extension of the invitation to other Jews whose identification as the poor, crippled, blind, and lame (Lk 14:21) classifies them among those who recognize their need for salvation, and to Gentiles (Lk 14:23). A similar parable is found in Mt 22:1–10.3
Joan Blandin Howard ponders that maybe we are well off not to “taste (the man’s) dinner”.
Our God does not fly into a rage when we don’t respond as God would have wished. Our God continues to invite all of us over and over and over again. Our God is delighted when we run out of excuses for sending our regrets. Our God’s meal is always tender and tasty and his beverages fresh off the vine! We are always graciously welcomed. The Lord’s table is set – whenever I run out of excuses!4
Don Schwager quotes “The heavenly food of Jesus' word,” by Clement of Alexandria (150-215 AD).
"The holy agape is the sublime and saving creation of the Lord... An agape is in reality heavenly food, a banquet of the Word. The agape, or love, 'bears all things, endures all things, hopes all things. Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8). 'Blessed is he who eats bread in the kingdom of God' (Luke 14:15). The most unlikely of all downfalls is charity that does not fail to be thrown down from heaven to earth among all these dainty seasonings. Do you still imagine that I refer to a meal that will be destroyed? (1 Corinthians 6:13) 'If I distribute my goods to the poor and do not have love,' Scripture says, 'I am nothing' (1 Corinthians 13:3). The whole law and the word depend on this love (Matthew 22:40). If you love the Lord your God and your neighbor (Mark 12:30-31), there will be a heavenly feast in heaven. The earthly feast, as we have proved from Scripture, is called a supper. It is permeated with love yet is not identified with it but is an expression of mutual and generous good will." (excerpt from CHRIST THE EDUCATOR 2,1)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 14:15-24 considers exploring the parable as a story about one of our daily rituals: our prayer time.
like the man in Jesus’ parable, God is beckoning us to come join him in this feast. And there is no good reason to decline his invitation. Fields, oxen, and honeymoons—these can represent our work and family life. Even these important and holy vocations are meant to flow out of our relationship with Jesus. They’re meant to find their purpose and energy in the grace we receive in prayer. Finally, what about the people who rejected the invitation? Is God angry with us if we miss our prayer time? No. Rather, he goes to creative lengths to get our attention and draw us in from the “highways and hedgerows” of our busy schedules (Luke 14:23). He doesn’t want us to miss out on his grace.6
Don Schwager quotes Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor who died for his faith under the Nazi persecution of Jews and Christians, who contrasted cheap grace and costly grace.
"Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves... the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance... grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate... Costly grace is the Gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life.”5
Friar Jude Winkler discusses the sense of “form of” in the text from Phillipians. What we say of Yahweh in the Hebrew Testament is true of Jesus in the New Testament. Friar Jude recalls the anawim, who will not survive without God, as reminders to us of the dangers of our privilege.
Dennis Bratcher shares a reflection on The Poured-Out Life: The Kenosis Hymn in Context.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that Parker Palmer’s understanding of the “tragic gap” recognizes that no matter what we do, we can never completely solve the problem. In all our actions, there is always a space left incomplete, imperfect, which God alone can fill. The search for “the perfect” often keeps us from “the good.” The demand for one single issue about which we can be totally right actually keeps us from reading the whole picture—often this is true in regard to voting.
If we are to stand and act with hope in the tragic gap and do it for the long haul, we cannot settle for mere “effectiveness” as the ultimate measure of our failure or success. Yes, we want to be effective in pursuit of important goals. . . . [But] we must judge ourselves by a higher standard than effectiveness, the standard called faithfulness. Are we faithful to the community on which we depend, to doing what we can in response to its pressing needs? Are we faithful to the better angels of our nature and to what they call forth from us? Are we faithful to the eternal conversation of the human race, to speaking and listening in a way that takes us closer to truth? Are we faithful to the call of courage that summons us to witness to the common good, even against great odds? When faithfulness is our standard, we are more likely to sustain our engagement with tasks that will never end: doing justice, loving mercy, and calling the beloved community into being.7
We are challenged by self emptying as it brings us to question how our privilege may be preventing us from responding as Jesus to the big picture needs of our community.
References
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