The Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

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 we give, we should do so without thought of return. Instead we should do it because of a love of God and all His children. It is much easier to give our time, talents, and treasures to people who we know will pay us back in some way. It is much more difficult to do the same things with those whom might not return our favors or even completely reject them. However, true love is sacrificial. Jesus gave his life for all, even though he knew not everyone would accept him as their Savior and might even mistreat him and his followers. When we love people who cannot repay us in any way, then we act more like Christ. In a world that often asks, "What can you do for me?" It is a grace and virtue to constantly have upon our lips the question, "What can I do for you?" If we live our lives in such a way, then we will be blessed and our reward will come when God tells us that we are good and faithful servants and worthy of remaining with Him for all eternity.

Do we help others without thought of return? Do we treat those who might not be able to repay us in the same way as we would treat those who are always helping us? How can we be more generous with our time, talents, and treasures, especially for those whom we have difficulty loving?

O Lord, give us the grace to invite the poor, crippled, lame, and blind into our lives so that we can pour out your love for them.

Amen.