Monday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time

“Feast in the House of Simon the Pharisee”
(south wall, detail)
by Giovanni Da Milano, 1365.

Readings for Monday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary: [3]
 
Reading 1: Romans 11:29-36
 
Brothers and sisters:
The gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.
 
Just as you once disobeyed God
but have now received mercy
because of their disobedience,
so they have now disobeyed in order that,
by virtue of the mercy shown to you,
they too may now receive mercy.
For God delivered all to disobedience,
that he might have mercy upon all.
 
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!
How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways!
 
For who has known the mind of the Lord
or who has been his counselor?
Or who has given him anything
that he may be repaid?
 
For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To God be glory forever. Amen.
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Commentary on Rom 11:29-36
 
This passage is St. Paul’s final reflection on salvation assured for the believers, justified by the love of God. The apostle has illustrated this theme by showing that God’s plan of salvation does not contradict the promise made to Israel. He now provides this hymn to a merciful God. In it he quotes Isaiah (Greek version of Isaiah 40:13 and Job 41:11a) to emphasize that God is indebted to no one, either for his plan or his gifts to the people. All he gives come from his love and mercy. As he concludes his discourse on sin and forgiveness, he indicates that what God has given (grace and faith) will not be revoked and cannot be undone. The second part of this reading celebrates the wisdom of God’s plan of salvation.
 
CCC: Rom 11:29 839; Rom 11:31 674; Rom 11:32 1870
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 69:30-31, 33-34, 36
 
R. (14c) Lord, in your great love, answer me.
 
But I am afflicted and in pain;
let your saving help, O God, protect me.
I will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
 
“See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the Lord hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.”
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
 
For God will save Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah.
They shall dwell in the land and own it,
and the descendants of his servants shall inherit it,
and those who love his name shall inhabit it.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
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Commentary on Ps 69:30-31, 33-34, 36
 
Psalm 69 is an individual lament. The singer cries out in the pain of affliction, offering to praise the Lord when salvation comes. They express confidence that God will continue his saving works and respond to those in distress.
 
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Gospel: Luke 14:12-14
 
On a sabbath Jesus went to dine
at the home of one of the leading Pharisees.
He said to the host who invited him,
“When you hold a lunch or a dinner,
do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters
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.”
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Commentary on Lk 14:12-14
 
Following on the teaching about humility (those seeking places of honor at the banquet), Jesus goes on to speak of service to the poor and to those who could not be expected to pay (or repay) for kindness or service. The purpose of this discourse reflects Jesus’ concern that his disciples should minister to the poor, not just to those who could repay them for their efforts.
 
“A Christian acts in the world in the same way anyone else does; but his dealings with his colleagues and others should not be based on pursuit of reward or vainglory: the first thing he should seek is God's glory, desiring heaven as his only reward (cf. Lk 6:32-34).” [4]
 
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Reflection:
 
Something important happens in Scripture today.  St. Paul informs us that the gift of grace and faith, once given by God in baptism, cannot be revoked.  Our nature, once fallen, is transformed and we are set on a path to eternal life.
 
We get excited about that gift.  We hear the truth that God, because we are his adopted children, will support us in our times of affliction.  We are confident that the Lord, whose power extends beyond all understanding, will keep us safe in his love.
 
But then we read the Gospel.  If we had been skeptical that these gifts came without any conditions, we would have been wrong in one sense, but right in another.  Clearly, we cannot earn what God gives us through his Son.  Clearly, once we have been taken into his family we will not be expelled.  Clearly, the gates of heaven, once opened, will not be closed to us.  However, there is an obligation placed upon us.
 
The Lord uses parables in some places to illustrate his point. Let’s try one here.  If we know that a house has been condemned and is not safe, and we go into that house, breaking down the boards that are there to prevent entry and ignoring the signs, who do we blame when we are injured as a result of that trespass?  Is it not our poor judgment that placed us in an unsafe position? If we are given God’s grace and the knowledge of his Son’s great commandment, and then ignore those words consciously and intentionally, who is to blame when, at the final judgment, we face the difficult period of repentance?  Did the Lord somehow revoke what he had given us, or did we fail to keep up our end of the bargain?  The same principle applies.
 
The Gospel tells us that our actions, guided by the Holy Spirit, must constantly be seeking ways to glorify and proclaim our allegiance to him.  The wealthy Pharisee is gently chided by the Lord for extending his hospitality only to those who could reciprocate in kind.  The Lord reminds these “religious” leaders that their invitation must include those who cannot pay them back.  It is one more example that supports God’s law of love.
 
Today we pray that our actions will model those of the Lord who cares so much for us that he has adopted us as his children.  We ask, once more, for the strength to be the visible force of God’s love in a world that so often does not know or care.
 
Pax

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[1] The picture used today is “Feast in the House of Simon the Pharisee” (south wall, detail) by Giovanni Da Milano, 1365.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] The Navarre Bible, “Gospels and Acts”, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2002, p. 448.