“Do nothing our of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourself, each looking out not for his own interests, but also everyone for those of others.”
These verses in the first reading for Mass today are easy to read, but they are sure a lot harder to do sometimes. Selfishness is something we are all born with, but it is one of the most important things as Christians, that we are called to overcome in life. It is a life long challenge to overcome our selfishness as think of others as much, if not more, than others.
Have you ever run across people who are so self involved that they never even realize the needs of those around them? These are the ones who stand in the middle of the grocery isle, oblivious to anyone else who needs to buy something on that isle too. Or, they eat a large, expensive meal in a restaurant and make the waitress wait on them hand and foot, and then leave a dollar for a tip. Sometimes it is something small, like being rigid when making plans and not being willing to compromise what they want, in order to accommodate what others want or need too.
We are all guilty of selfishness to an extent, yet it seems like people who are selfish are not even aware of their own selfishness. There is a danger in this for us as well. The challenge for today might be to honestly look at our lives, the way we treat others or how we view people in public places. Little things, like do we give up our seat on the bus for an elderly woman or a pregnant mother with small children?
When we go to mass, do we sit on the end of the pew without noticing others who are standing in the back of church? Families with small problems often have unavoidable last minute problems that cause them to be a little late for Mass sometimes. It really is an unselfish act to move to the center of the isle and allow others to have a seat too, rather than arrive early with the intent of getting the best seat, without noticing the people who are standing at Mass because they hate to have to ask you to make room for them. This is especially true at Christmas and Easter.
Jesus talks about our generosity to others in today’s gospel:or
“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 …”
How many of us actually do this? When we prepare a nice meal at Christmas or on other special occasions, do we ever even think of people outside of our own family? How hard would it be to set an extra place at the table for an older person that lives alone, or someone that is homeless? Do we ever feed anyone outside of our own families? For many of us, that feels awkward inviting someone we do not know into our homes for a special meal, but that is what Jesus is calling us to do.
Something simple that is easy to do though, is even if you do not ask strangers to dinner in your home, the homeless in your area would appreciate the leftovers from your holiday meal, or perhaps you could even prepare a little extra for them. A hot plate of food at Christmas, given to a person(s) living under a bridge, or living on the street would be gratefully appreciated. Yes, there are soup kitchens for them to go to, but there are still those who are too far away to walk to places like this for assistance.
There are also neighbors who are poor, but have too much pride to let anyone know they do not have food in the house. They can sometimes be the ones we view as wealthy business owners, when in fact, their business might be failing and they do not want people to know how bad things have gotten.
One last thing. Sometimes the poor is in our own families. Sometimes they are the black sheep in the family that no one talks to much because of their lifestyle. These are actually the ones that we shouldn’t let go of. The black sheep in the family often become homeless because their families have nothing to do with them because of their lifestyle. But, nothing is ever set in stone. God isn’t finished working in their lives. He loves them and will never forget them and neither should we. Lazarus was homeless, but Jesus saw more virtue in him than the more well to do. The question is, do we?
Daily Mass Readings:
Philippians 2: 1-4 / Psalm 131 / Luke 14: 12-14
