In You, O Lord, I have Found My Peace

Today's Mass Readings

In this passage from today’s Gospel reading taken from Luke’s Gospel, we find Jesus explaining the kingdom of God in an unexpected way. Often Jesus' hearers, ourselves included, have a false image of what the kingdom of God will be like. In this instance, one individual talks to Jesus about how blessed one would be to feast in the kingdom of God. The word for “blessed” here can also be translated as “happy,” and perhaps that is the best way to handle that word in this context. “How happy will be the one who gets to dine in the kingdom of God,” we might paraphrase. During Jesus’ time, there was an expectation that when the messiah came there would be a great messianic banquet, where all the righteous would feast with the messiah in his kingdom. This hope is probably what this individual is alluding to here. Jesus, however, explains that the feast of the kingdom will be different than what this fellow expects. It will not simply be a time of merriment. Only those who have borne their crosses, and therefore passed through the suffering of the cross, can enjoy the banquet. Notice that those who were initially invited to the banquet do not get to enjoy the feast. Of course, this is not the fault of the king, since in each instance, these individuals excused themselves so that they would not have to show up. They look at the banquet as an obligation. Perhaps they would prefer a banquet that does not involve the cross, which proves such a stumbling block and folly to the many who do not understand. But Jesus points out who will enjoy the feast: the poor, the crippled, the blind, the lame. In short, the humble will be able to enjoy the feast. What if we are not materially poor, or physically crippled, or physically blind or lame?

We simply need to recognize how spiritually poor, crippled, blind, and lame we are, regardless of our physical state. Further, we need to exemplify the kind of lives St. Paul tells us about in today’s first reading from his Letter to the Romans: hate what is evil, love one another, serve the Lord, rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer, exercise hospitality, bless those who persecute you, weep with those who weep, contribute to the needs of the holy ones, and of course, the part that accords best with what Jesus describes in today’s Gospel, do not be haughty but associate with the lowly.

These are the requirements for the banquet we are all invited to. Let us be humble, like little children, so that we too may partake of the banquet of the kingdom, the wedding feast of the Lamb, which we already participate in at every Eucharist.