THE WORD
Rom 12: 5–16 / Lk 14: 15–24
One of his fellow guests on hearing this said to him, “Blessed is the one who will dine in the kingdom of God.” He replied to him, “A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many. When the time for the dinner came, he dispatched his servant to say to those invited, ‘Come, everything is now ready.’ But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves. The first said to him, ‘I have purchased a field and must go to examine it; I ask you, consider me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have purchased five yoke of oxen and am on my way to evaluate them; I ask you, consider me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have just married a woman, and therefore I cannot come.’ The servant went and reported this to his master. Then the master of the house in a rage commanded his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in here the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ The servant reported, ‘Sir, your orders have been carried out and still there is room.’ The master then ordered the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedgerows and make people come in that my home may be filled. For, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.’”
IN OTHER WORDS
The Jewish vision of the Messianic reign likes to picture it as a royal banquet. Indeed, the man who is speaking to Jesus in today’s gospel is thinking of that Messianic banquet. Jesus replies to him with a parable. In the parable the master stands for God. The originally invited guests stand for the Jewish establishment consisting of the scribes, pharisees and priests; sadly, they refuse to accept the invitation to the banquet. The poor people from the streets and lanes stand for the tax-gatherers and sinners, who welcomed Jesus in a way in which the orthodox Jews never did. Those from the roads and hedges stand for the gentiles, for whom there was still ample room at the feast of God.
Although the warning in the parable is addressed to the Jews of Jesus’ time, there are truths in it which are valid for all of us today. The first man says, by way of excuse, that he has bought a field and is on the way to see it. He allows the claims of business to usurp the claims of God. It is a temptation to which people all too often fall prey. So immersed are they in worldly affairs that they have no time for God.
The second man says that he has bought five yokes of oxen and is going to test them. The excitement of new acquisitions and undertakings readily frustrates the claims of Christ. It is perilously easy for a new project, a new hobby, a new game, even a new friendship, to take up the time that should be kept for God.
The third man says that he has taken a wife and therefore cannot come. A marriage with the prospect of a home is a lovely thing. It is a tragedy of life that time and again good things crowd out the claims of God. But the bonds with God also strengthen the bonds among men. Those people live best together who live with God. They serve each other best who also serve their fellowmen. The atmosphere of a home is most lovely when those who dwell in it remember that they are also members of the great family of God.
- Karl Heinz-Peschke, SVD (Vienna, Austria)
The Word in other words 2015
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
