Monday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time

 Lectionary: 485

The gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.

Pope Saint John Paul II invoked this principle when, during his first papal visit to the United States, he was asked about priests resigning from the priesthood. In fact, he had already imposed a moratorium on laicizations. The irrevocable nature of God's gift is a fundamental principle of everything we believe. Once a man has accepted ordination, it cannot be undone. The Lord has spoken.

That was Saint Paul's final answer as he pondered the mystery of Jesus and the Jews. Although the Messiah was clearly a Jewish man and the fulfillment of all Jewish expectations, the vast majority of Jews, hearing the gospel announced in their synagogues, did not believe in Jesus. Those who did were expelled from the synagogue and united with gentiles in a new, unprecedented communion of faith. But the God of Abraham had not revoked -- and would never revoke -- his promise to Abraham's descendants. 

But Paul's Roman disciples should understand there is nothing automatic in our conversion to Christ. There is, in fact, nothing automatic or mechanical about human beings. Despite our attempts to apply our human laws mechanically, they don't work that way. Laws against speeding on the highway don't apply like the law of gravity. They have to be enforced by human beings who sometimes choose to ignore them. 

God's grace has not automatically turned us into self-sacrificing, thoughtful, gracious people. And so we're offered today's gospel. Everybody knows that when you extend a dinner invitation to your social peers -- be they family or friends -- they should respond with a similar invitation at some later date. Jesus respected that tradition but insisted that it was not a response to the Gospel. It did not fulfill the principle of charity, nor did it reflect God's gracious mercy. It was simply a human way of doing things. He taught something different,

"When you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind." he said. 

This response to the Gospel must be learned and practiced repeatedly. It entails certain challenges, and many of them are unexpected. The poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind might not know your principles of etiquette and fine dining. They might not be very clean; they might take things you didn't intend to give them. But they will have their own principles of etiquette, kindness, and generosity that might astonish their hosts. 

And they will certainly come back. And often without an invitation. "And that," you might say, "was not the agreement!" Which the Lord will hear with amusement. 

But as you learn this new way of life with its new principles of generosity, courtesy, and reciprocity, you can expect to be "repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." For God's promise is irrevocable.