Monday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time, November 3, 2025

Gospel

Luke 14:12-14

On a sabbath Jesus went to dine

at the home of one of the leading Pharisees.

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 sisters

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."

Reflection

“When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.”Jesus isn’t condemning the act of spending time with friends or family by inviting them to a gathering. What He’s revealing is something deeper...the motives behind our generosity. Why do we invite certain people into our lives or offer them kindness? Is it because we expect something in return? Perhaps their approval, gratitude, or a favor owed to us later?

The message that stands out to me is that true kindness and goodness don't seek repayment. When our actions come from a place of self-interest, they lose their authenticity. Jesus challenges us to give freely, to extend kindness and hospitality to those who cannot repay us. This kind of love mirrors God’s own love for us, unconditional and selfless.

While some may say it is uncomfortable to think of others first or to inconvenience themselves for another, I think it is far more uncomfortable to imagine a world without any love freely given. Where there is always distrust, ulterior motives and a lack of genuine generosity. To me, that sounds like a hellish kind of reality. In a world where it is common to “look out for number one,” Jesus calls us to a different way, to not put ourselves first, but to love without expecting anything in return.