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Gospel Reading for November 03, 2025 – Luke 14: 12-14
A ONE-WAY GESTURE
On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees. 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 sisters 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.”
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In short, what Jesus is saying – when we give, we should not have an ulterior motive. We give because we recognize that whatever we have comes from God, and we are responsible for those who are in need. This is why when Jesus was asked which the greatest commandment was, he said: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22: 37-38). We cannot claim to love God if we cannot love those he created and have given us.
To love is A ONE-WAY GESTURE. It cannot be called love if it seeks to get something in return.
Lord Jesus, teach us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves!
