Tuesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
The Self-Emptying Of Christ
Liturgical Cycle: A | Lectionary Cycle: II
Introduction
Year II. In today’s first reading, we hear two stanzas from a beautiful hymn to Christ. It may be of Syrian origin and was probably used in the liturgy. It sums up Christ and his work in a few concise terms: divine, yet in the humble condition of a servant, a human being; crucified but risen and glorified above all. He emptied himself, that is, gave up the glory that was rightfully his. And this Christ is the model for people, the image of what a person must become. Are we that image?
Gospel. Today’s gospel shares partly the same theme as yesterday’s: that in the kingdom of God we must open our homes and hearts to the poor, the neglected, the people without name or fame. This is why we take the messages of the first reading of years I and II.
Opening Prayer
Lord, mighty God,
people – that is we –
often want to be their own gods;
we want to decide for ourselves
what we want to be and what is right and wrong.
Thank you for sending us your Son
who is God and wanted to be a human being,
to serve people, to suffer for people,
to save people from their pride and self-sufficiency.
Thank you for upsetting our values
and holding out the promise to us
that you will raise us up with Jesus,
and that we may acclaim him as our Lord
to give you glory for ever and ever.
First Reading
Your attitude should mirror that of Jesus Christ.
Though he was in the form of God,
he did not consider equality with God
something to be grasped.
Instead, he emptied himself
by taking on the nature of a servant,
made in human likeness,
and appeared as a man,
He humbled himself
by obediently facing death
—death on the cross.
That is why God exalted him
and gave him the name
above all names,
so that at the name of Jesus, all knees should bow
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 22:26b-27, 28-30ab, 30e, 31-32
R. (26a) I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
I will fulfill my vows before those who fear him.
The lowly shall eat their fill;
they who seek the LORD shall praise him:
“May your hearts be ever merry!”
R. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
All the ends of the earth
shall remember and turn to the LORD;
All the families of the nations
shall bow down before him.
R. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
For dominion is the LORD’s,
and he rules the nations.
To him alone shall bow down
all who sleep in the earth.
R. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
To him my soul shall live;
my descendants shall serve him.
Let the coming generation be told of the LORD
that they may proclaim to a people yet to be born
the justice he has shown.
R. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Upon hearing these words, one of those at the table said to Jesus:
“Happy are those who eat at the banquet in the kingdom of God!”
Jesus replied:
“A man once hosted a feast and invited many guests.
When it was time for the feast, he sent his servant to tell those he had invited that everything was ready.
But all of them began to make excuses. The first said, ‘Please excuse me. I need to go see the piece of land I just bought.’
Another said: ‘I am sorry, but I am on my way to try out the five yoke of oxen I have just bought.’
Still, another said, ‘How can I come, when I’ve just got married?’
The servant returned alone and reported this to his master. Upon hearing his account, the master of the house became furious and told his servant, ‘Go out quickly, into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’
The servant reported after a while, ‘Sir, your orders have been carried out, but there is still room.’
The master said, ‘Go out to the highways and country lanes and force people to come in to ensure that my house is full.
I tell you, none of those invited will have a morsel of my feast.”
Prayers of the Faithful
– That the People of God and its leaders may not seek to impress the world with outward splendor and power but go to all as humble servants, we pray:
– That from Christ we may learn to go out of our way to serve others, we pray:
– That we may help the poor not to boast of the good we do but to better their lot without humiliating them, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
your Son Jesus appears among us here
in the humble, everyday signs
of a piece of bread and a bit of wine.
As we are full of ourselves,
let him give us the insight and courage
to empty ourselves of our pretenses.
Teach us to become with him
unassuming servants of one another
and of you, our God and Father for ever.
Prayer after Communion
God our Father,
in this eucharist you have let us enjoy
the presence of him
who was fully human among people like us,
your Son Jesus Christ.
May we learn from him
that to be fully human means
to say yes to life with its joys and also its crosses,
to live for others
and even to accept death
as the gate to the lasting joy
which you have prepared for us
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Blessing
Let the same mind be in you that was in Jesus Christ. He emptied himself and humbled himself, accepting even death on the cross. Therefore God exalted him. May God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
REFLECTIONS
Path and vision can change lives
Luke 14:15-24
The double invitation in the gospel indicates the importance the Lord places on us and the quality of the feast that has been prepared for us. A feast is a food exchange. Everything given in this party can be obtained with money too. But only if you feel the heart of the inviter hidden in what is given, it becomes festive meal and sharing of love.
Refusing an invitation is same as insulting the inviter. The most dangerous excuses are those with which we fool ourselves. One of the unrecognized characteristics of excuses is that they accuse as well as excuse because they reveal our true priorities. The excuses we offer reveal the activities and commitments we hold to be of greater importance like possession, trade and pleasure. If we analyse well, these three big excuses are what usually hold our lives captive.As a result, we are living as physically disabled people who have lost their health, as poor who have lost the benefit of their work, as cripples who have lost their true relationships, and as blind people who have lost all hope in life.
In fact, none of us are kept away from God’s love due to our sinful state instead we just make excuses. Some others would have given anything to have the opportunity that we declined. However, God is not discouraged nor annoyed. He doesn’t suspend the feast but reproposes the invitation, extending it beyond any reasonable limit. Thus, the Gospel, rejected by some, finds an unexpected welcome in many other hearts at different moments.