On 1 John 3:13–18 and Luke 14:16–24
The liturgical cycle after Pentecost places us in the long and fertile season of spiritual maturity—the Tempus post Pentecosten. The green vestments of the Church now reflect not the green of novelty but of growth, of grace ripening in the soul through the sacraments and the Word of God. This Sunday, the Second after Pentecost, offers us two readings that, while distinct in tone, converge on a solemn truth: charity is the measure of our fidelity to God, and the invitation to the heavenly banquet is tragically refused by many.
“Marvel not, brethren, if the world hate you.”
(1 John 3:13)
Saint John speaks as the disciple who reclined upon the Heart of Christ, yet his tone is piercing. To live in love is to live in contradiction to the world, which knows not love but only pride, envy, and self-interest. The Apostle continues:
“We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not, abideth in death.”
(1 John 3:14)
The test of spiritual vitality is charity. Not sentiment, not mere kindness, but that holy agape which Christ embodied on the Cross. Saint Augustine comments here:
“What is love? The death of the soul to itself, that it may live to God.”
(In Ep. Joannis ad Parthos, Tract. 5)
True charity demands sacrifice—“laying down our lives for the brethren” (v.16). And lest we imagine this to be only heroic martyrdom, the Apostle brings it down to earth:
“He that hath the substance of this world, and seeth his brother in need, and shutteth up his bowels from him: how doth the charity of God abide in him?”
(v.17)
The Latin phrase clausit viscera sua (“shutteth up his bowels”) is particularly forceful. It evokes a closing off of the very seat of compassion. In the Hebrew idiom adopted by the Apostles, the “bowels” are the inner depths of mercy and pity. To be closed to others’ need is to close ourselves to God.
Saint Gregory the Great, reflecting on this passage, wrote:
“There are some who love their neighbor in word, but not in deed… True charity is proved by the hand, not the tongue.”
(Moralium Libri, Bk 22, Ch. 6)
“A certain man made a great supper”
(Luke 14:16)
In the Gospel, Our Lord tells of a man who prepares a magnificent banquet. The Fathers are unanimous: the host is God the Father, the supper is the Kingdom, and the invitation is extended through Christ and His Church. Yet, those who are invited refuse.
Their excuses are tragically mundane: land, oxen, and marriage. Temporal preoccupations dull their spiritual appetite.
“And they all with one consent began to make excuse…”
(v.18)
Saint Ambrose sees in these excuses an allegory of the soul’s rejection of grace:
“The world is the field, pride is the yoke of oxen, and lust the wife. These are the enemies of the soul who hinder it from coming to God.”
(Expositio Evangelii Secundum Lucam, Bk 7)
The master’s response is not apathy but righteous anger. He turns to the poor, the maimed, the blind, and the lame—those who were not considered worthy by worldly standards, but who hunger for God. These are the humble of heart, the penitents, the simple, the contrite.
St. Cyril of Alexandria comments:
“God invites not only the wise and learned, but the humble and despised, that His house may be filled with those who desire Him.”
(Commentarius in Lucam, Ch. 14)
But the most chilling words are the final ones:
“None of those men that were invited shall taste of my supper.”
(v.24)
This is not an arbitrary rejection. It is the just consequence of their own refusal. God’s mercy is infinite, but His invitation must be answered. As St. John Chrysostom says:
“God forces no one, but He invites all. Yet He will not allow His banquet to be despised.”
(Hom. 37 in Mattheum)
Charity and Invitation: The Twofold Call
These two readings confront us with a double summons:
- To love not in word, but in deed and in truth (1 John 3:18),
- And to respond to the invitation to the heavenly banquet before it is too late (Luke 14:24).
The Second Sunday after Pentecost is traditionally devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in older devotional calendars, and these readings express the Heart of Christ wounded by rejection, yet still burning with love for sinners.
Let us then open our hearts—to God and to our neighbor. Let us answer the divine invitation with haste, and sit at the banquet with humility. Let us imitate the Sacred Heart: offended, yet always loving; wounded, yet always open.
Prayer:
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, burning furnace of charity, grant that I may never refuse Thy call, never grow cold in Thy service, never close my heart to those in need. Teach me to love as Thou hast loved me, laying down my life for the brethren, and hungering for the banquet that Thou preparest for those who love Thee. Amen.