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.
These words of Jesus to the Pharisees and his guest are hard to act on. Where are the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind around me? But what made me do a double take on reading this was these words of Jesus: “For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” From the mouth of Jesus himself comes the word resurrection, or, what will follow life on earth. Those who have invited the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind will be repaid though Christ and in him with eternal life.
God, help me understand the ways I see daily the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind. It is not necessarily on a busy street corner in the city. Don’t I encounter all of these every day in my family and the people I interact with, even if that interaction is only through email or over the phone? Thank you for the opportunity, Lord, to see your son in their faces and hear his voice in their voices.
As I receive the Eucharist today, God, quiet my mind so that I know peace in the real presence of your son Jesus, body and blood, soul and divinity. I must ask you also that you stay with me throughout the day—that I remember that presence so I know how to respond to the people you place in front of me. Thank you for your presence, Lord; it is a place of rest and means of replenishing strength for the day.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.