3 November 2026 · Latin Rite
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“At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’” Luke 14:17
Paul's hymn is one of the oldest Christian confessions: Christ Jesus, though in the form of God, “emptied himself, taking the form of a slave”, and “humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross”. Therefore God highly exalted him. The way of God is downward before it is upward. Paul introduces the hymn with a simple command: “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.”
In the Gospel the host's banquet is ready, but the invited guests make excuses: a field, oxen, a marriage. None of these is evil; they simply matter more to the guests than the invitation. So the host sends his servant to the streets and lanes for “the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame”. The Eucharist is this banquet. The question is not whether we are worthy, but whether we will come.
Theme: “Come; for everything is ready now.”
The Lord who emptied himself invites all, especially the poor, to his banquet.
“See, my servant shall prosper; he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high.” Isaiah 52:13
“For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45
Apply: Choose the lowest place in one situation today.
“On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.” Isaiah 25:6
“At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’” Luke 14:17
Apply: Name one excuse and drop it this week.
“Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” Isaiah 55:1
“Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.” Luke 14:21
Apply: Invite someone who is usually left out.
The humble Lord sets the table for the humble.
Come, and bring others with you.
Take-home resolution: Attend one weekday Mass this week.
Dear friends, St Paul gives us today one of the oldest hymns of the Church. Christ Jesus, though he was God, did not cling to his glory; he emptied himself, took the form of a slave and became obedient even to death on a cross (Philippians 2:6–8). God's way goes down before it goes up.
Paul does not give us this hymn only to admire it. He begins with a command: let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5). The question for today is simple: where am I clinging to my rights, my place, my image?
In the Gospel a man gives a great banquet. Everything is ready, but the invited guests make excuses: a field, some oxen, a marriage. So the master sends his servant into the streets to bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame (Luke 14:21). The table of God is full of people the world overlooks.
Every Mass is that banquet. Let us not be among those with excuses. Come to the table this week, even on a weekday if you can, and bring someone with you who feels unwanted. Amen.
Children, Jesus is God, but he came down to be a servant. He invites everyone to his feast, especially the poor. Let us say yes when he invites us to Mass!
Lord Jesus, you emptied yourself and became obedient unto death. Give me your mind of humility; let no excuse keep me from your table, and open my heart to the poor whom you invite. Amen.
This week the first readings come from Paul’s Letter to the Philippians and the Gospels from Luke’s journey to Jerusalem. Today Paul sings of Christ who emptied himself and was exalted, and Jesus tells of a great dinner whose first guests make excuses. The one who humbled himself is the host who fills his house with the humble.
Setting.
Paul writes to the church at Philippi, a Roman colony in Macedonia and the first church he founded in Europe (Acts 16). He writes from prison, either in Rome (about AD 61–62) or, as some think, in Ephesus a few years earlier. The community is generous but troubled by rivalry, so Paul asks them to look to the interests of others (2:3–4) and then gives the supreme example: Christ. Many scholars think verses 6–11 are an early Christian hymn that Paul quotes or composed.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.” (2:7)
“he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death” (2:8)
Crucifixion was the death reserved for slaves and rebels, a punishment so shameful that Roman citizens, as many of the Philippians were, were normally exempt from it. Paul places it at the lowest point of the hymn.
“so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,” (2:10–11)
An echo of Isaiah 45:23, where God says, “To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.” What Isaiah says of the Lord, Paul says of Jesus: “Lord” (kyrios) is the name of God.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism quotes this hymn when it teaches the Incarnation (CCC 461) and when it explains that the first confessions of faith gave Jesus the divine title “Lord” (CCC 449). The Church has always held that in emptying himself the Son remained fully God while becoming fully man: this is the faith of the Council of Chalcedon (451). The hymn is sung every Saturday evening in Evening Prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours.
Setting.
Jesus is at a Sabbath dinner in the house of a leader of the Pharisees (14:1). He has just told his host to invite “the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind” (14:13). A guest responds with a pious remark about the banquet of the kingdom, and Jesus answers with a parable. In that culture an important host sent a first invitation and then, when the meal was ready, a servant to call the guests.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“‘Come; for everything is ready now.’” (14:17)
The time of the kingdom has come in Jesus. Nothing remains to be prepared except the guests’ answer.
“‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’” (14:21)
The same four groups as in 14:13. The host does what Jesus has just asked the Pharisee to do.
“and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled.” (14:23)
The host wants a full house. Luke’s readers saw here the mission to the nations beyond Israel.
How the Church reads it.
Before Communion the priest says, “Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb” (compare Revelation 19:9). Every Mass is this invitation. St Augustine once used “compel them to come in” to justify pressure on the Donatists; the Church today teaches clearly that no one may be forced to embrace the faith (Dignitatis Humanae 10). The compulsion of the parable is the urgency of love.
Did Christ stop being God when he “emptied himself”?
No. He took on what he was not, our human nature, without losing what he was. He “humbled himself”: the emptying was a choice of love, not a loss of divinity (CCC 464, 469).