At the heart of today’s Gospel teaching is God’s upside-down vision of the Kingdom. In a world that rewards status, power, and wealth, Jesus invites us to think instead about humility, hospitality, and generosity.
Let’s set the scene. Jesus is at a banquet. He notices how people rush to take the places of honor, and He reminds them, “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet…go and sit in the lowest place…for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Then he challenges the host not to invite only friends, relatives, and the wealthy, but also the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind – those who cannot repay. The message Jesus is giving us:
The true measure of our faith is not how we treat those who can give us something in return, but how we welcome those who have little or nothing to give.
This gospel speaks directly to the way we approach immigration and the border issues in our country. People arrive at our borders not because life is easy, but because it has become unbearable – because of poverty, violence, or persecution. They come seeking the same things we want for ourselves and our children: safety, dignity, a chance to work, and hope for the future.
But often, instead of welcome, they encounter suspicion, hostility, or indifference. We are tempted to think of them as problems to be solved rather than people to be embraced. Yet Jesus says, “When you hold a banquet, invited the poor.” In other words, open your life, your community, your nation to those on the margins. For in them we encounter Christ Himself, who said, “I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.”
This does not mean that borders do not matter – they do - or that laws are unimportant – they are. But as Christians we must approach immigration not first as a political issue, but as a Gospel issue. It is about how we see the human dignity of our brothers and sisters.
Imagine for a moment if we truly lived out today’s Gospel – if our first instinct was not to protect our place at the table but to make sure that others have a place at all. The Church teaches that nations have a right to secure their borders, yes, but also that every human being has the right to life, food, shelter, and safety. Justice and mercy must go hand in hand.
So perhaps Jesus’ challenge to us today is this: Instead of asking, “How can we keep people out?” we might begin by asking, “How can we make more room at the table?” If we humble ourselves, if we welcome the stranger, if we choose compassion over fear, then we will not only honor our brothers and sisters at the border, but we will honor Christ Himself.
And on the day when God gathers us all to His heavenly banquet, we may hear God say, “Friend, move up higher…come to the place I have prepared for you.”