Word Columns for September 2

Our open house is officially over, but you can still access old Word columns by registering with our site. From now on Father Daniel Harrington’s current Word column will only be available to subscribers. Our special $12 offer is still in effect, so we hope you’ll join us. It’s a great deal! In 2004 Sister Dianne Bergant wrote that the parable Jesus tells in Luke’s gospel "condemns not excellence but arrogance. It demonstrates how people who assume places of honor risk having to relinquish them in favor of someone more distinguished." Father John Donahue, in his column from 2001, writes that Jesus "invokes the theme of reversal--those who exalt themselves will be humbled, while the humble will be exalted--and goes on to shatter those very dining rituals that he seemed to support. Reciprocity and the practice of inviting people of equal status were the twin pillars of ancient dining customs. Jesus rejects this and says that you should instead invite ’the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,’ groups of no status who, Jesus notes, will not be able to pay you back." Tim Reidy, Online Editor