文|Bishop Barron
翻译|Carrie

朋友们，今天的福音是来自《路加福音》中关于婚筵首席的著名篇章。耶稣受邀到显赫的“法利塞人首领”的家中，祂注意到人们不择手段地谋取地位、身份、声望。

 

谁会注意我？我能让谁钦佩？耶稣确切地指出对于一个自负者来说最无望的情景。这个自负者使尽浑身解数求取人们的注意力，人们注意到他了，却不是因为光鲜的缘故！他的自大游戏落得适得其反的糟糕下场，他在众目睽睽之下尴尬不堪。那解决办法是什么？不要再玩这个游戏。特意坐到末席。自愿放弃上座。

 

比喻的结尾还提出另一条策略，同样是对邪恶怀着非合作态度。我要宴请宾客，但目的是让他们作出相同的回报。自愿放弃这种心态！不要玩这种游戏。宴请那些无法作出任何回报的人们。“但你几时设筵，要请贫穷的、残废的、瘸腿的、瞎眼的人。如此，你有福了，因为他们没有可报答你的。”

 

Friends, our Gospel today is the famous passage from Luke's Gospel dealing with honor at a banquet. Jesus has been invited to the home of a prominent person, one of the "leading Pharisees," and he notices how people jockey carefully for position, status, prominence.

 

Who will notice me? Who can I impress? And Jesus puts his finger on the most desperate scenario for an egotist. Trying as hard as he can to be noticed, he gets noticed but for all the wrong reasons! His egotistic games backfire dreadfully, as everyone sees him reduced to embarrassment. So what's the solution? Stop playing the game. Take the lowest place on purpose. Opt out.

 

Another strategy is suggested at the end of the parable. It's also a strategy of non-cooperation with evil. I'll have a dinner for people, but only so that they can pay me back with another dinner. So opt out! Don't play. Invite people to a party who have no capacity whatsoever to invite you in return. "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."