Posted by The WORD in other words (2018) by Fr Melchor Bernal SVD -Christ the King Seminary, Quezon City
Monday 31st Week in Ordinary Time
While waiting for my first parish assignment, I was sent to the city of Salta, in northwestern Argentina, near Bolivia, joining two Argentine veteran preachers. Our task was to prepare the pilgrims during the thirty days prior to the annual celebration of “El Señor y La Virgen del Milagro,” Patrons of Salta.
I heard daily confessions for a whole month. That meant every 3pm I walked the two blocks from the Franciscan convent to the Cathedral. Those two blocks were lined with restaurants full of diners still having lunch until 3:30 pm. One lay leader commented, “We people of Salta love to eat. Not that we live to eat, rather, we eat to live.”
Having meal with others is not only a matter of biological necessity; it is a social convention. Like those Salteños, we Filipinos love to eat as evidenced by the number of restaurants in towns during the month of May and fiestas. The Jollibee crowd is another example.
In the Gospel reading Jesus reminds his host, to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. This attitude of humility is echoed by Paul in the first reading, “Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vain glory and humbly regard others as more important than yourselves.”
Meal as a social event has a spiritual component where the attitude of humility is the main flavor. The Eucharist is a meal; heaven is portrayed as an eternal banquet. Jesus exemplifies humility even during a meal when he washed the apostles’ feet during the Passover Meal.
Meals then should always remind us of heightening our taste for humility in preparation for the eternal banquet.
