Gospel: Luke 14:12-14
Jesus also addressed the man who had invited him, and said, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends, or your brothers and relatives, or your wealthy neighbors. For surely they will also invite you in return, and you will be repaid. When you give a feast, invite instead the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind. Fortunate are you then, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the upright.”

Reflections
“When you give a feast, invite instead the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind.”
Wealth, power, and holiness are an awkward combination. But all these three are found in the life of St. Charles Borromeo.
St. Charles was born to a rich family in Italy on October 2, 1538. When his uncle rose to the papacy as Pius IV, he was made a cardinal and named archbishop of Milan while only 22 years old. Despite his youth, however, he lived with exemplary virtues. He instituted a program of discipline for the clergy, an initiative to propagate the faith, and a reform and restructuring of the missal and the Breviary. He also had schools, churches, and hospitals constructed in his diocese. He is remembered in history as the first bishop who built a semi- nary for the formation of the diocesan clergy. When a pandemic occurred in Milan in 1576-1578, he sold his possessions and some church properties to help the afflicted. From his hands, St. Aloysius Gonzaga received his First Communion.
Wealth and power need not be hindrances to holiness. They too can become our means if we are willing to make use of them for the glory of God. Following the counsel of Jesus in the gospel can be a first step.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019