When you hold lunch or dinner, do not invite ONLY those who can repay you but the poor and the needy as well. In the Old Testament, especially in the Psalms, the Lord God is celebrated as a fierce defender and protector of the poor and vulnerable of the society (cf. today’s Responsorial Psalm). The Lord God expects and demands that the poor and the vulnerable be given a fair consideration by the society, and those who fail to do this are not looked upon kindly by the Lord (cf. Proverbs 14:31). The Lord goes as far as expressly warning the children of Israel that any mistreatment of the most vulnerable in the society (widows, orphans, and aliens) will certainly rouse the Lord’s anger and the Lord will be forced to act (cf. Exodus 22:21-23). This apparent “bias” by the Lord towards the poor and the vulnerable arises from the fact that the Lord God is a Creator Father who not only cares for all God’s creatures but who also wishes them fullness of life. But fullness of life cannot be said to have been attained if the most basic needs of a creature are not met. Taking care of the poor and the vulnerable is, therefore, God’s call on humanity to join God in the continuing work of creation. It is a call that comes out clearly in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. 
The poor and the vulnerable were very much integral to the ministry of Jesus. Not only were the poor and the vulnerable, as beneficiaries of Jesus’ intervention, going to concretize God’s salvific acts towards creation, but also because of their disposition, they were going to be more receptive to Jesus’ proclamation of the good news. It is not surprising, then, that it is this group that featured prominently in Jesus’ “inaugural” speech at the onset of his public ministry (cf. Luke 4: 18-19). Indeed, the larger percentage of the initial disciples of Jesus was constituted of the lowly of the society. The transformation of this group from a people that was marginalized and forgotten to a people who were recipients of God’s compassionate love was itself a proclamation of the good news of God’s visitation of God’s people.
Jesus’ compassionate concern for the poor and vulnerable came out loudly in his acts towards them. The poor and the vulnerable constituted the majority of the recipients of Jesus’ mighty signs. However, Jesus also showed his concern for this marginalized group by championing their cause both in his teachings (in some of his parables) and whenever an opportunity presented itself. Today’s Gospel reading recounts one such instance. Jesus was invited to a Sabbath dinner by one of the prominent Pharisees. Whereas on this particular evening nothing out of the ordinary transpired that would have been an insult both to the host and to those who were present (such as a woman anointing the feet of Jesus as had happened at the home of Simon the Pharisee [cf. Luke 7:36-50], or Jesus’ disciples proceeding to eat without observing a proper cleansing ritual [cf. Matthew 15:2]), something was still bound to happen that would present Jesus with an opportunity to carry out his teaching responsibility. And something did happen. It all began when Jesus’ eyes swept through the room and was met by a sight he had seen only too many times.
A leading Pharisee was not going to invite everybody from the byways and crossroads to come to dinner at his house especially if an important person such as Jesus was going to be the chief guest. Naturally, he ended up inviting the people of his “class,” that is, those who were in a position to extend the same courtesy to him. In itself, there was nothing wrong with what had done. He was simply doing what the society had taught him to do. But Jesus was not going to leave him where he was. He invited him to better himself by heeding the call of God to love one’s neighbor. It was a good thing to invite his peers to a dinner party. But because of those invited, it could be interpreted that his goodness had some strings attached. The only way to demonstrate that he was doing good for goodness sake was to extend the same treatment to those with whom he had no acquaintance, especially to the poor and the marginalized. By doing so, he would not only be fulfilling the Lord’s command to love one’s neighbor, but he will also be joining God in taking care of God’s creation. 
Taking care of the marginalized of the society is a call that we have received from our Creator God. It is a call which we pick up in order to demonstrate our gratitude to God for God’s goodness to us. It is a call which we embody as a means of participating in the continuing work of creation. We get to honor the fact that we have been created in the image and likeness of God when we come to the realization that we are God’s representatives here on earth. God is a defender and protector of the vulnerable and the marginalized. A representative of God must also do likewise.