24th Week in Ordinary Time

John the Baptist ate locusts and wild honey. Jesus dined among sinners, eating whatever table fare they offered. People said John was possessed and called Jesus a glutton. A Pharisee invited the Lord to his home but denied Him the common courtesy of a basin of water to rinse the road dust from His feet. Then a sinful woman approached Jesus, bathed His feet with her tears, dried them with her hair, and anointed them with ointment. She received His forgiveness and gave her love. A centurion, admittedly unworthy to have Jesus under the same roof with him, asked the Lord by messenger to cure his slave from a distance. When we invite the Lord into our lives through prayer, how do we welcome Him?