“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.” ~ Mother Teresa

“Today it is fashionable to talk about the poor. Unfortunately, it is not fashionable to talk with them.” ~ Mother Teresa

Gospel text (Lk 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."

How many begging, crippled, lame, or blind people have you had over for supper lately?

Why does Jesus want us to eat with the poor and handicapped? It is not because they are so needy but because they are not able to repay us (Lk 14:14). The Lord calls us to look for situations in which we won't, or better yet, can't be repaid. As far as the Lord is concerned, thankless jobs are the best because we won't be repaid. Moreover, secret or obscure works are ideal, for no one but your Father knows about them (Mt 6:3-4, 6, 18). Thus, no one but your Father is in a position to repay you. Although we must often go public for Jesus to be His witnesses, there is a danger in this because we might be appreciated and rewarded. We must try as best we can to hide our life "with Christ in God" (Col 3:3). This guards against the temptation to live and work for payment rather than for pure love. Therefore, look around for situations that don't pay.

Let us beg from the Mother of God enough generosity so that we can elude any temptation of selfishness.