Whose invited to the banquet?

XXXII Sunday C Luke 14:1,7-14 On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully. He told a parable to those who had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table. "When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, 'Give your place to this man,' and then you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place. Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say, 'My friend, move up to a higher position.' Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table. For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted." Then 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 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."

August has been a month of celebrations for us Redemptorists here in Mexico. On July 25th four Redemptorists were ordained priests in our church in SLP so August has been full of celebrations: first masses in SLP, Vera Cruz, Michocan and finally in Solá de Vega, Oaxaca. Lots of partying, meals, feasting, and celebrations and it's exactly what the gospel says. When I went to the celebration of Fr. Margarito's there was a family I knew from Monterrey so I sat at their table and began talking with them. While I was there a lady came to me and said, "No, Father, we have a special table for priests. Here up in front. Then she insisted that I go to the other table and there I received great service. We were the first to be served, and on china plates while the others waited a long time and ate from disposable plates. My thought was, "Thank you, Jesus, for the good advice." But today's gospel is not advice on how to get a good spot at banquets, nor is it saying that we should not invite our family members to our celebrations. The gospel is a parable, it's not advice about the importance of humility, it's about our relationship with God. God is the host and he is inviting everyone to the messianic banquet. The only way to respond to the invitation is to accept it and recognize that we were not invited on our merits, but because of God's goodness. At the party in Sola de Vega there were almost 2000 people invited. There was room for everyone, but the last place was not the part that was not under the tent, nor was the seats near the bathroom away from the main table. No, the worst place was the kitchen. Dozens of ladies from the village spent the whole day in the kitchen serving. They had wood comales on the ground and they were there all party heating tortillas for the town. Jesus told the parable to the Pharisees and priests. I believe that Jesus is telling everyone, but especially us priests, that the role of a disciple of Jesus is service. That we are called not to be served but to serve others. In the second parable again the host is God and Jesus is saying who is his father's guests of honor: the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, why? Because they don't can’t pay God back. Which means that I am invited not because I am a priest. Not because I go to Mass every week, not because I obey all of the commandments, and not because I’ve never sinned… Well ok, I might have sinned a couple of times, but only venial and I always go to confession right away. No, the kingdom of God, the heavenly banquet is not something I can earn, much less buy a ticket for. It's only because God loves me. The best way to be invited to the banquet is to accept others the way God accepts us, especially those who are the last in our world. Our church should not be known as the one that has the best and those of high society, but the one that includes the last and the excluded. The ones that can’t get in anywhere else.