Greeting (1 Cor 4:7 and 1:31)
What do you have that you have not received? If everything you have was received as a gift, then why boast? If anyone must boast, let him boast of the Lord. May the Lord, the giver of life, be with you. R/ And also with you.
Introduction by the Celebrant
A Good Place for Everyone
How do we regard other people and ourselves in relation to them? Do we look down on others, at least on some, and hold ourselves as more important, people to be noted and given honors? The message of today is: In the Kingdom there is a good place for everyone. If there is to be any preference, it is for the poor, the disabled, the humble, for they are given the first place by God, they are the favorites of Jesus. Jesus asks us here and now: What place do you take and what place do you give to others?
Know Your Place
Today our Lord Jesus invites us to his table. He knows that we are people with faults, people who have hurt him and others, by the wrong we did or the good we didn’t do. Knowing who we are he still loves us and invites us, as his friends, to join him at his table. Let us humbly take part in his meal and ask the Lord to make us more open to the humble, to people who have erred, and to the poor.
Penitential Act
A Good Place for Everyone
We seek honors and self-advancement, even elbowing others aside to become first. We ask the Lord and people to forgive us. (pause)
Lord Jesus, you came among us not to be served but to serve: Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, you invite everyone to the table of your feast meal: Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, you came to call not the healthy but the sick: Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord, and forgive us our pride and hunger to be noticed and honored. Admit us to your table as you lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Know Your Place
Poor in love and wounded by sin, let us seek the Lord’s forgiveness. (pause)
Lord Jesus, you ate with sinners and encountered them with love and compassion: Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, you were always available to the humble and the poor: Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, you give yourself here to us as our food and the drink of life: Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
You have never stopped loving us, Lord. Forgive us once more all our sins and lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Opening Prayer
Let us pray to God who invites everyone to his Kingdom (pause)
Our Father, you who lift up the lowly; your Son Jesus came into our world as the servant of all and he cherished the helpless. With him, make us respect and appreciate the weak, the defenseless and the humble, and accept to be numbered among them. Dispose us to help them and to seek their help. For you have poured out your mercy on us too through Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
First Reading (Sir 3:17-20,28-29 [Vulg. 3:19-21,30-31]): The Greater, the Humbler
We cannot be open to God’s grace unless we put aside our pride. People appreciate lack of pretense and they see through our boasting.
1 Reading: Sir 3:17-18, 20, 28-29
Second Reading (Heb 12:18-19, 22-24): Our Savior and Covenant Is Jesus
Through Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, Christians, even on earth, are already as if living as citizens of heaven.
2 Reading: Heb 12:18-19, 22-24a
Gospel (Lk 14:1,7-14): Come Up Higher, My Friend
In his kingdom, God invites those who recognize their lowliness and need of salvation. Likewise, the follower of Christ invites the poor and the humble.
Gospel: Lk 14:1, 7-14
Intercessions
Let those who are the last and the least in the eyes of people, be first in our prayers to the Father. Let us say: R/ Lord, come and save us.
– Lord, in our world the powerful are honored and the humble are looked down upon. Remember the humble, we pray: R/ Lord, come and save us.
– Lord, in our world the poor become poorer and the rich become richer. Remember the destitute and the needy, we pray: R/ Lord, come and save us.
– Lord, in our homes many sick people, the old and the weak and the lonely, are often neglected and abandoned. Remember all those who suffer, we pray: R/ Lord, come and save us.
– In many countries, ours included, there are many homeless and refugees who have no stone upon which to lay their head. Remember all of them, Lord, we pray: R/ Lord, come and save us.
– Many children and old people have only the street to live and to sleep on; also many prisoners are forgotten. Remember all of them, Lord, we pray: R/ Lord, come and save us.
– There are people for whom nobody prays, and there are those who hurt and afflict us. Remember them, Lord, we pray: R/ Lord, come and save us.
Lord, you listen, to the prayers of those who trust in you. Help us to remember with you the least of our brothers and sisters. We ask this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord God, our Father, you overlook the poverty of our hearts and you have given us a place of honor at the table of your Son. May we learn from him to be at the service of all, that you may also give us a place, however lowly, at the eternal festive meal of Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
Pride is at the root of many sins. Jesus came to undo our pride by humbly obeying the will of the Father. We humbly join Jesus in his sacrifice.
Invitation to the Lord’s Prayer
Conscious of our limitations, we expect all good things from God and so we pray with Jesus our Lord: R/ Our Father...
Deliver Us
Deliver us, Lord, from all pride, which sets us up against one another and makes us unwilling to serve. Keep us free from the evil spirit of seeking gain and fame at the expense of others, even as we try to serve one another and work together for the full coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...
Invitation to Communion
This is Jesus the Lord who invites us to his table. He comes to seek us at the lowliest place and tells us to move up higher. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God, we stand here before you as guests invited to his table by your Son Jesus Christ. We thank you that he has accepted us without judging or condemning us, though our faith is not clear-eyed and we often limp while trying to follow him. Dispose us too to accept as friends and guests the poor and the weak, just as you have accepted us in Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Blessing
If we want the Lord to live among us, there is only one place that fits us: the last place, the place of people who know how to serve. There is no room for pretending to be what we are not. And before God, we are all small, we cannot claim any merit. May this attitude be ours with the blessing of almighty God, the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Let us go with one another God’s way of peace and love.
R/ Thanks be to God.
****
Commentary
Feeding the Hungry
Read:
We are exhorted to practice discretion and humility. Those who humble themselves will find themselves raised – to the city of God where they live with God. Jesus affirms the virtue of humility and encourages us to give without expectations of return.
Reflect:
Jesus speaks of inviting the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind to our dining tables. As per the United Nations, the people living in extreme poverty (read, those living on less than $1.90 a day) in the world would number around 703-729 million in 2020-21. About 690 million people go hungry and 21.3% of the world’s children suffer from stunting due to chronic malnutrition. Now read this: The world wastes or loses annually 1.3 billion tons of food and 1.6 billion tons of primary product equivalents. The total global military expenditure in 2019 was $1,917 billion! If not for heavenly reasons, at least for humane and earthly reasons, it is time we invited the poor and the hungry to our dining tables, provided for them, and took care of their needs. And this act must begin, humbly, at the dining tables of every family.
Pray:
Lord, give us humble and generous hearts that care for the needs of others.
Act:
Share your food with a hungry person today.
