Daily reflection : Monday of the Thirty-First Week in Ordinary Yr B

” Luke 14:12–14″When you host a lunch or a dinner, don’t ask your friends, brothers, sisters, relatives, or rich neighbours, in case they might ask you back and you get paid back. Instead, when you throw a party, ask the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; you’ll be lucky indeed because they can’t pay you back”

Jesus doesn’t tell us it’s wrong to ask friends and family to a dinner party. He teaches us about something much more profound. Throwing a dinner party for others is good when we do it out of love. But if we throw the dinner or do any other kind of act to show off, then the pride we get from it is all we’ll get. Many look for and get this “payment” of pride differently. Jesus’ lesson shows us that we should only do good things with the humble and hidden aim of helping others.

Dangers of Pride

The lure of pride often leads us to worry too much about others’ opinions of us. Throwing a meal for friends, relatives, and rich neighbours is an example of pride in action. In this scenario, Jesus talks about someone who does something just to boost their ego and get compliments from others. This type of “glory” has no value and can harm the soul.

What drives your actions? Do you perform good deeds to gain attention and praise from others? Do you make an effort to showcase your virtues? Does others’ opinion of you matter too much? If you answer “yes” to any of these, you might have a bigger pride issue than you think.

The Humble of Heart

On the other hand, are you happy doing a good deed without anyone noticing? Can you find joy in helping others even if it goes unrecognised? Does your desire to serve and give stem from wanting to improve others’ lives? This aligns with Jesus’ teaching about hosting a feast for those who can’t pay you back – the poor, disabled, and blind. In other words, it’s good when you can’t get the “reward” of empty praise. This should be your aim.

Ask yourself today how hungry you are for fame. Think of some case where you’ve been toiling in the night for a period of time to work hard. Suppose the work that went well did great things for others. And then, suppose that nobody knew you had done all that good work, and so you weren’t credited or thanked. How would you feel?  Ideally, you would be happy with two things.

You would first be happy that you were able to serve and contribute. Second, you would be happy that God and only God knew about your act of charity. If God is impressed with our goodness and self-sacrifice, he, so to speak, owes us something. His “debt” is God’s thanks and love that he repays us in immortal gifts.

You can achieve these eternal vicissitudes only by doing good in the darkest and most lowly ways. Those are eternally better rewards than the momentary prizes of vanity.

Jesus Came to Serve

Jesus was born to die. That perfect love did the greatest good that could be done. Jesus performed this holy act of tenderness in the lowest manner. As a result, you are now forever sanctified. Become like Jesus, and in humble, hidden service, do something so that you may share in God’s  Heavenly praises one day.

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