“Nope. I just opened a business. I got my hands full,” said Jake who was being invited to serve in the worship team. “Negative. I just bought my dream bike and I’ll be riding with my friends on weekends,” said Jack who was being tapped to lead a men’s support group. “Can’t. I just got married. We’re busy with the transition,” said Jade who was being asked to help out in the media team.

Very valid reasons. The people invited in the Gospel turned down the invitation because of work, recreation, and family. But I believe the Lord will not ask us to neglect and sacrifice our jobs, rest, and families at the altar of service. These things are also a calling that we must steward responsibly. But today’s Gospel is a sobering reminder that God’s invitation to serve is not just a duty but a privilege. Why are we saying no to His call? What outweighs the invitation of God in our lives?

Let’s keep our priorities in order, while keeping God at the top. He has prepared a banquet for us. Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in His Kingdom. 

Veia Lim-Viñas (@veialimvinas)

reflect

Have you allowed other commitments to outweigh the honor of being part of His Kingdom work?

Lord, forgive me for the times I’ve put other things above You. Help me see service not as a burden but as a privilege. Give me a willing heart and the wisdom to balance my responsibilities. Amen.

St. Martin de Porres, religious, pray for us.

The humility of Christ is seen in the mystery of the Incarnation, when He became man like us. Jesus leaves behind the glory of heaven and walks this earth as one of us. You would think that becoming human would be enough humility but not for Christ who loves us deeply. He suffers and dies to redeem us from our sins and open the way to eternal life.

⁵ Brothers and sisters: Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶ Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. ⁷ Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, ⁸ he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. ⁹ Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 22:26-27, 28-30, 30, 31-32

R: I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of you people.

²⁶ I will fulfill my vows before those who fear him. ²⁷ The lowly shall eat their fill; they who seek the Lord shall praise him: “May your hearts be ever merry!” (R) ²⁸ All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; All the families of the nations shall bow down before him. (R) ²⁹ For dominion is the Lord’s, and he rules the nations. ³⁰ To him alone shall bow down all who sleep in the earth. (R) To him my soul shall live; ³¹ my descendants shall serve him. Let the coming generation be told of the Lord ³² that they may proclaim to a people yet to be born the justice he has shown. (R)

Gospel | Luke 14:15-24

How often have we made excuses for not following Christ? Are any of them truly valid? Jesus gave His life for us—He offered everything to show His love and commitment. Have we received that love with open hearts? Are we willing to surrender all in thanksgiving for what He has done? Let us pray for the grace to grow in our commitment to Christ today.

Gospel Acclamation

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest, says the Lord.

¹⁵ One of those at table with Jesus said to him, “Blessed is the one who will dine in the Kingdom of God.” ¹⁶ He replied to him, “A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many. ¹⁷ When the time for the dinner came, he dispatched his servant to say to those invited, ‘Come, everything is now ready.’ ¹⁸ But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves. The first said to him, ‘I have purchased a field and must go to examine it; I ask you, consider me excused.’ ¹⁹ And another said, ‘I have purchased five yoke of oxen and am on my way to evaluate them; I ask you, consider me excused.’ ²⁰ And another said, ‘I have just married a woman, and therefore I cannot come.’ ²¹ The servant went and reported this to his master. Then the master of the house in a rage commanded his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in here the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ ²² The servant reported, ‘Sir, your orders have been carried out and still there is room.’ ²³ The master then ordered the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedgerows and make people come in that my home may be filled. ²⁴ For, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.’”

Read the Bible in one year! Read ISAIAH 49 - 52 today.

In this age of social media that has shrunk the world into a global village, almost everyone wants to be known and heard, regardless if it is for good or bad. Many desire to be an influencer rather  than a follower, to be great than to be small, to be known than to be hidden. So often, we are like those invited by the king to his great banquet—feeling too important, turning down the invitation, seeing no need for others, not even for God, and having no qualms about missing Sunday Mass. “But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves” (Luke14:18), our Gospel says. Many times our arrogance and high regard for ourselves miserably fail us in being like Jesus.

Saints Paul and Martin de Porres show us that the path to true peace and harmony within and among one another begins with having the attitude of Jesus Christ, as our First Reading emphasizes.

It is the fundamental rule of Christian life to be like Jesus Christ, who came to show us that the way back to God is by self-emptying (kenosis). It is only by self-emptying that we can really be an influencer in the truest sense—sharing in the pains and sufferings of others by being last, by being the servant of all, and by being like a child. It was the same attitude that St. Martin de Porres took in his entire life and mission. He never saw himself better than others; even to the point of overlooking the worst sins of criminals he tirelessly tried to reform. With the poor, he provided food, clothing, and medicine while trying to comfort the sick—all in imitation of Christ. 

Fr. Nick Lalog

reflection question

What attitude do you follow in life—that of the world or that of Christ?

Teach me, dear Jesus, to change my attitude of self-importance with Your attitude of smallness, of leaving a space for others so I can work with them like the saints did. Amen.

Today, I pray for: _____________________________________