" Do not choose the best seat."

Jesus observed guests trying to take places of honor at a banquet and told a parable advising against it.

Anyone who exalts themselves will be humbled, and anyone who humbles themselves will be exalted.

“Christ took the lowest place in the world—the Cross—and by this radical humility he redeemed us” (Benedict XVI)

 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊    

Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29

My son,

Conduct your affairs with discretion and you will be loved by those who are acceptable to God.

The greater you are, the more you should humble yourself and thus you will find favor with God.

For great is the power of the Lord and it is the humble who give him glory.

For the sufferings of the proud man there is no remedy, the roots of evil are implanted in him.

The wise man reflects on proverbs. What the wise man desires is an attentive ear.

 

Ps 68:4-5, 6-7, 10-11

God, in your goodness, you have made a home for the poor.

 

＊＊＊ 2nd Reading ＊＊＊

Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a

What you have come to, is nothing known to the senses: nor heat of a blazing fire,

darkness and gloom and storms, blasts of trumpets or such a voice that the people pleaded, that no further word be spoken.

But you came near to Mount Zion, to the City of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, with its innumerable angels.

You have come to the solemn feast, the assembly of the firstborn of God, whose names are written in heaven.

There is God, Judge of all, with the spirits of the upright, brought to perfection.

There is Jesus, the mediator of the new Covenant, with the sprinkled blood that cries out more effectively than Abel's.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊   

Luke 14:1, 7-14

One Sabbath Jesus had gone to eat a meal in the house of a leading Pharisee, and he was carefully watched.

Jesus then told a parable to the guests, for he had noticed how they tried to take the places of honor.

And he said, "When you are invited to a wedding party, do not choose the best seat.

It may happen that someone more important than you has been invited; and your host,

who invited both of you, will come and say to you, 'Please give this person your place.

What shame is yours when you take the lowest seat!

   

Gospel Reflection ：

"Invite others who are often neglected."

Read: Sirach teaches us to act with discretion and humility.

Hebrews describes Christ as the Mediator of the New Covenant that admits us to the heavenly Jerusalem.

Jesus teaches his ambitious guests that they are to act humbly, and to honour those who are pushed to the margins.

 

Reflect: Sirach says that the wise person "reflects on proverbs,"

but pride has made those invited to dinner in today's Gospel to forget to reflect on Sirach's words,

"the greater you are, the more you should humble yourself".

The guests are trying to show their greatness by jostling for the place of honor,

not realizing that they lose that honor in their zeal to grab it from someone else.

 

Jesus reminds us that no matter how accomplished or successful we are,

we should always acknowledge our limitations and the dignity of others.

Therefore, we are not to presume to take the place of honour when we are the guest,

and we are to invite others who are often neglected.

 

Pray: Pray before the Blessed Sacrament, meditating on the reality before you.

Think of what you have "come near": Christ himself in the presence of the angels.

Act: Volunteer to help at a homeless centre or soup kitchen or devote greater attention to a neighbour who needs some help.