Then 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 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.”
The pool at the parish party.
On June 17th, we said goodbye to the group of seminarians and priests who had been with us for the past week, gathered our things together and headed off to the fiesta parroquial (parish picnic). We had our towels, sunscreen, bathing suits, a few coolers of sandwiches to share. As we pulled up to where we had heard the “pools” were, the parking lot was already quite full for 11a.m. on a Saturday morning and the place was already hoppin’.
First what struck me about this gathering is the clothing that people were wearing to swim. If they didn’t have a suit, they just wore a normal t-shirt and jeans. They would not let not owning a bathing suit keep them from enjoying the fun! We set our things down under a nice shady tree, said hello to some friends, and then made our own way up to the pool. The water felt SO refreshing!
Kids playing near the pool.
As we were preparing to eat, we noticed that they were using one gazeebo spot for everyone. We all blessed and partook of one table, provided for by everyone. As I stood there with melon juice dripping down my chin, basking in the wonders of relaxation, it struck me that this is how life should be, how the world should be! Everyone brought a little, and together that made enough to feed everyone. What if the world was more like that? What if countries were more like that? Instead of fighting over who has more oil or money or weapons, what if we all just shared? I’m not saying that people should not have to pay for what they use, but what if the world were more willing to share resources with one another?
Our friends, Raul and his daughter, Cheli, hang out in the food tent.
When Jesus told the host of his dinner to invite the “poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,” He was not talking out of some high lofty ideal for world peace (although this would certainly help matters). He was calling this man, indeed US, to do what He Himself did/does. Each Sunday He calls us, the sinners – the spiritually poor before the throne of God, the blind from lack of faith and wisdom, the crippled who stand before the One Creator, to partake in His feast, His very self, body, blood, soul, and divinity given freely for us. We are invited to the feast where Heaven touches earth. We are made one with our brothers and sisters in our worship, our adoration, our oneness with our Lord. He shows us it is better to give than to receive. And my Mexican brothers and sisters showed me that as well.
