INVITE THE POOR

PRAYER MOMENT

Monday,  4 November 2013

INVITE THE POOR

Pause.  Enter into the silence within.

Reading. “When you have a party invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; that they cannot pay you back means that you are fortunate.” (Luke 14:12-14)

Reflection. Jesus is calling us out of our selves. We may think, if I do something what will I get in return? But Jesus is saying, “invite the poor, the crippled, the blind.” They cannot repay you. But you will be blessed. You will discover that they too have gifts, especially of the heart. A poor person, a handicapped person can break down barriers. Once, in Rome, people were gathered with their intellectually handicapped family members waiting for the pope. A little boy looked at the pope’s beautiful empty chair and wondered why no one sat on it. So he decided he would. I suspect that is the event those people remember about that “audience.”  The “poor” draw out of us things we did not know we had. They break down the barriers and lead us to places we “would rather not go” (John 21:18).  “A man’s stretch should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for.” So wrote the poet Robert Browning.

Prayer. Lord Jesus, you invite us to move out of our set patterns and comfortable ways to discover new paths that lead to life. Help us to set out on this way trusting in you who always accompanies us.  Amen.