Today's Gospel

How To Be Truly Charitable

So what jumps out at you today? For me, there's a few things. We come together each day, and we reflect on the gospel. And from the beginning, we called this series Radical & Relevant because I wanted to demonstrate that the gospel is radical. It does continuously seek to turn our lives upside down in a really good way. Turn our lives right side up is actually what it turns out to be. And also to demonstrate that 2,000 years later, the gospels, the life and teachings of Jesus, are as relevant today as ever before because they deal with the fundamentals of the human condition. They deal with the fundamentals of man's relationship with his neighbor, man and woman's relationship with their neighbors, and it deals with the fundamentals of the relationship between humanity and God. Today's reading, if you take it in a fundamentalist sense, is very, very, very radical. I've never invited strangers into my home for a dinner. The blind, the maimed, the this, the that, or even just strangers who aren't all of those things. But is that the message of the gospel? It's a parable. Jesus is trying to teach us something. What is he trying to teach us? Well, I think he makes that very clear. I think he says, "If you invite all your friends, they'll invite you back, you will be repaid." What I find interesting, fascinating, actually, is that Jesus is actually seeing hosting a dinner as a form of gift, as a form of generosity, as a form of charity, in a sense. So he said, "Don't invite all your friends, because then they'll invite you to their party, and then you'll be repaid." And of course, that's what happens, right? You invite someone to a party, and then they invite you to their party. And then you invite someone to a wedding, and then they invite you to a wedding. And then you're holding a party and you think, "Oh, I don't have enough room for all these people, but oh, that person invited me to this. So I sort of feel obligated to invite him back." That is actually how the world works 2,000 years later, exactly how Jesus is describing. And is he saying, "Hold a party for the people and the strangers and the blind and the lame."? No. I don't think he's a fundamentalist. I think he's saying, "Do charity in a way that can't be repaid to you. Be charitable and generous to people who don't have anything to give you in return, who can't help you grow your business, who can't help you get this or do that," or whatever the other thing is. But to do that and to do it quietly, anonymously, so that your riches, your treasure, and your heart remains with him in heaven. Have a great day, Be Bold, and Be Catholic.