“Do nothing out 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.”
This verse in the first reading for mass today is easy to read, but it is 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. It is a life long challenge to counter our tendency to automatically think of ourselves first, before considering the needs of others.
Have you ever run across people who are so self involved that they never seem to 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 tip.
We are all guilty of a little selfishness, but have you ever encountered a narcisstic person that truly has no idea of the extent of their self centeredness? 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 the whole time in the back of the church? Families with small children often have unavoidable last minute problems that cause them to be late for Mass sometimes. It really is a great kindness to move to the center of the pew and allow others to have a seat too, rather than arrive early with the intent of getting the best seat, and then ignore all those who are standing in the back of the room the whole time. This is especially true at Christmas and Easter.
Jesus talks about our generosity to others in today’s gospel:
“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 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, it feels awkward inviting someone we do not know into our homes for a meal, but that is what Jesus is calling us to do…
Something that is easy to do, (even if you are uncomfortable asking strangers to dinner in your home), is prepare a little extra food to share with the homeless. A hot plate of food given to a person living under a bridge, or on the street would be gratefully appreciated, especially during the holidays. 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 in cold weather. There are also neighbors who are poor, but have too much pride to let anyone know they do not have any food in the house. An edible gift might be a real treat for them, any time of the year.
One last thing. Sometimes the poor is in our own families. They could be the “black sheep” in the family that no one talks to very much – because of their lifestyle. These are actually the ones that we should reach out to the most. 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 in the more well-to-do people in his community.
The question though, is how do we view the poor, homeless, sinners and outcasts in our own community?
