Saturday November 4, 2017
Introduction
If a trusted friend proves disloyal, we feel badly hurt and find it almost impossible to remain faithful. Not so with God. He remains faithful to Israel, of which all but a small rest abandoned him. Yet the Jews keep a role in God’s plans by facilitating, beyond the possible exclusivisness of one people, the entrance of pagan nations.
Our Lord invites us to his table. He knows that we are people with faults, people who have hurt him and others, by the wrong we done and the good we have failed to do. Knowing who we are, he still loves us and invites us as his friends to join him at his table. Let us humbly take part in his meal and ask the Lord to make us more open to the humble, to people who have erred, and to the poor.
Opening Prayer
Our Father, who lift up the lowly,
your Son Jesus came into our world
as the servant of all and he cherished the helpless.
With him, make us respect and appreciate
the weak, the defenseless and the humble,
and accept to be numbered among them.
Dispose us to help them and to seek their help,
for you have poured out your mercy on us too,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Reading: ROM 11:1-2A, 11-12, 25-29
And so I ask: Has God rejected his people? Of course not! I, myself, am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. No, God has not rejected the people he knew beforehand. Don’t you know what the Scripture says of Elijah, when he was accusing Israel before God?
Again, I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall? Of course not. Their stumbling allowed salvation to come to the pagan nations, and, this, in turn, will stir up the jealousy of Israel. If Israel’s shortcoming made the world rich, if the pagan nations grew rich with what they lost, what will happen when Israel is restored?
I want you to understand the mysterious decree of God, lest you be too confident: a part of Israel will remain hardened, until the majority of pagans have entered. Then, the whole of Israel will be saved, as Scripture says: From Zion will come the Liberator, who will purify the descendants of Jacob from all sin. And this is the Covenant I will make with them: I will take away from them their sins.
Regarding the gospel, the Jews are opponents, but it is for your benefit. Regarding election, they are beloved, because of their ancestors; because the call of God, and his gifts, cannot be nullified.
Lk 14:1.7-11
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!
Whenever you are invited, go rather to the lowest seat, so that your host may come and say to you, ‘Friend, you must come up higher.’ And this will be a great honor for you in the presence of all the other guests. For whoever makes himself out to be great will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
Intentions
– Lord, in our world the powerful are honored and the humble are looked down upon. Remember the humble, we pray:
– Lord, in our homes many sick people, the old and the weak and the lonely are often neglected and abandoned. Remember all those who suffer, we pray:
– Lord, many children and old people have only the street to live and to sleep in. Remember all of them, Lord, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
you overlook the poverty of our hearts
and you have given us a place of honor
at the table of your Son.
May we learn from him
to be at the service of all,
that you may give us a place,
however lowly,
at the eternal festive meal
of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God,
we stand here before you
as guests invited to his table
by your Son Jesus Christ.
We thank you that he has accepted us
without judging or condemning us,
though our faith is not clear-eyed
and we often limp while trying to follow him.
Dispose us too to accept as friends and guests
the poor and the weak,
just as you have accepted us
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Blessing
If we want the Lord Jesus to live among us, there is only one place that fits us, the last place, the place of people who know how to serve. There is no room for pretending what we are not. May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
