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Gospel Reading for Sunday, August 29, 2010, Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 14:1, 7-14

On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely. When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. "When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, `Give this person your place,' and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, `Friend, move up higher'; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." He said also to the one who had invited him, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

Food For The Poor is the largest international relief organization in the United States, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy; the organization serves the poorest of the poor in 17 countries throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. Founded in 1982, Food For The Poor is an interdenominational ministry that not only provides food for the starving, but also builds small houses for the destitute, digs water wells for parched villagers, provides medicine and medical equipment for the sick and elderly, supports orphanages and education for children, and much more.

Since its inception, Food For The Poor has distributed more than 43,900 tractor-trailer loads of aid and has built more than 50,000 homes for the destitute. Total support received in 2007 was more than $1 billion, with fundraising and administrative costs comprising only 3.22% of expenses — the organization’s lowest ratio ever. More than 96% of all donations received went directly to programs that benefit the poor.