We’ve heard this gospel many times where Jesus is promoting inviting the poor, the lame, the blind and the crippled. It goes without saying that he is speaking to us too, so that we will provide for others who can’t repay us. That way we will receive repayment at the resurrection.
And it is easy to understand for the follower of Christ for he talks many times about helping others, he is forever healing others, driving out demons and feeding the multitude. In all these things actually, there is no way he can be repaid either. How does a healed person repay Jesus except by living in his Word forever. And that isn’t so much as repayment as it is living our calling. We receive a calling as do all people to follow Jesus, but only a few actually say yes with their life. Most provide a response by living a compartmentalized life where there is God and Church certainly. But our attention, our money, our hopes and lives are out there in the world.
And if we really look closer at the reading from Romans and the Gospel we can see a meaning that is deeper and more to the point.
We are not the ones who invite the poor and the lame and the crippled and blind to a banquet. We are the poor for most of us are poor in trust in God. We are the lame for we are unable to put feet on our faith and help others or tell others about Jesus Christ. We live crippled lives with blessings like all people have, but we fail to receive graces of the Holy Spirit for there is no room in our hearts for him. We have not surrendered all to God. We have not opened ourselves up to receive his mercy and spirit.
We are the blind. For every mass we have Jesus with us. As real as if he was standing there before us. Yet we do not see…meaning we have not really understood the real presence, or we would approach the altar on our knees begging for his mercy. We receive Jesus and mumble amens that mean nothing to us and affirm nothing in our hearts. The amen should be loud and full of joy for we have come to mass to give our sorrows and worries and life again and again to him and join with him, take the creator inside of our creature bodies and God becomes part of us. How fantastic! How awe inspiring!
We have Jesus in front of us, beside us, and in us.
Do we truly understand what we are doing?
Today’s readings stress that all we have are from God. Even the struggles he let happen, and he gives us opportunities to grow in strength and faith. Strong faith and discipleship come from sacrifice and struggle.
We are called and given blessings when we are truly living in his word…doing everything for Jesus Christ….truly loving God with all our might and heart and soul and all our strength. The first commandment is often professed but do we really live and love that way?
God has given us the gift of a calling. A path in life he wants us to lead as part of our collaboration in building the kingdom. When we follow that path the fruits of the Holy Spirit will overflow for us. We will no longer be blind to the truth. We will be compelled to share our faith and everything with whoever needs it. We will use what we have been given, even legs and arms and hands or time and treasure and talent to help others so we can live out the second commandment to love others as we love ourselves.
I heard someone ask recently if we got to heaven and no one we knew was there but God, would we still want to be there? If the answer is no we don’t truly love God enough. We are poor in Spirit still and have not loved him or others as Jesus told us we should.
Heaven is where we hope all our loved ones will go if they too turn to Jesus Christ. But the question should be our test for where we are in faith.
And today we need to remember that we are the poor and lame and blind, and God comes to give us blessings and gifts and healing so that we will have his peace and hope and joy here and now regardless of circumstances. Anxiety and worry are constant struggles for most of us, and they get in the way of a relationship with God. For anxiety and worry are children of fear and only exist because we do not trust enough and hope in Christ. It’s a constant battle we all must fight and keep pushing ourselves to trust more and focus more on the next life to come. Knowing we are here in this world only to use what we have been given to prepare ourselves and others for the next.
The Christian who arrives in heaven will never arrive not knowing anyone else, for by the nature of being a believer he has spent time and treasure helping others arrive at the resurrection too. It’s in his nature to do so. And he will be welcomed by all he touched and helped and by his close friend, Jesus Christ.
Deacon Tony Pynes 
Leave a comment