20171015
GOD’S GRACE IS A GIFT AND A RESPONSIBILITY
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Isaiah 25:6-10 ©
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On this mountain,
the Lord of hosts will prepare for all peoples
a banquet of rich food.
On this mountain he will remove
the mourning veil covering all peoples,
and the shroud enwrapping all nations,
he will destroy Death for ever.
The Lord will wipe away
the tears from every cheek;
he will take away his people’s shame
everywhere on earth,
for the Lord has said so.
That day, it will be said: See, this is our God
in whom we hoped for salvation;
the Lord is the one in whom we hoped.
We exult and we rejoice
that he has saved us.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 22(23) ©
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In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell for ever
and ever.
The Lord is my shepherd;
there is nothing I shall want.
Fresh and green are the pastures
where he gives me repose.
Near restful waters he leads me,
to revive my drooping spirit.
In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell for ever
and ever.
He guides me along the right path;
he is true to his name.
If I should walk in the valley of darkness
no evil would I fear.
You are there with your crook and your staff;
with these you give me comfort.
In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell for ever
and ever.
You have prepared a banquet for me
in the sight of my foes.
My head you have anointed with oil;
my cup is overflowing.
In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell for ever
and ever.
Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me
all the days of my life.
In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell
for ever and ever.
In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell for ever
and ever.
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Second reading
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Philippians 4:12-14,19-20 ©
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I know how to be poor and I know how to be rich too. I have been
through my initiation and now I am ready for anything anywhere: full stomach or
empty stomach, poverty or plenty. There is nothing I cannot master with the
help of the One who gives me strength. All the same, it was good of you to
share with me in my hardships. In return my God will fulfil all your needs, in
Christ Jesus, as lavishly as only God can. Glory to God, our Father, for ever
and ever. Amen.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Jn1:14,12
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The Word was made flesh and lived among us:
to all who did accept him
he gave power to become children of God.
Alleluia!
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Or
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cf.Ep1:17,18
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Alleluia, alleluia!
May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
enlighten the eyes of our mind,
so that we can see what hope his call holds for us.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 22:1-14 ©
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Invite
everyone you can to the wedding
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Jesus began to speak to the chief priests and elders of the people
in parables: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a feast
for his son’s wedding. He sent his servants to call those who had been invited,
but they would not come. Next he sent some more servants. “Tell those who have
been invited” he said “that I have my banquet all prepared, my oxen and
fattened cattle have been slaughtered, everything is ready. Come to the
wedding.” But they were not interested: one went off to his farm, another to
his business, and the rest seized his servants, maltreated them and killed
them. The king was furious. He despatched his troops, destroyed those murderers
and burnt their town. Then he said to his servants, “The wedding is ready; but
as those who were invited proved to be unworthy, go to the crossroads in the
town and invite everyone you can find to the wedding.” So these servants went
out on to the roads and collected together everyone they could find, bad and
good alike; and the wedding hall was filled with guests. When the king came in
to look at the guests he noticed one man who was not wearing a wedding garment,
and said to him, “How did you get in here, my friend, without a wedding
garment?” And the man was silent. Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind
him hand and foot and throw him out into the dark, where there will be weeping
and grinding of teeth.” For many are called, but few are chosen.’
GOD’S GRACE IS A GIFT AND A RESPONSIBILITY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ IS 25:6-10; PHIL 4:12-14,19-20; MATT 22:1-14 (OR
><22:1-10) ]
In the first
reading, the Prophet Isaiah spoke of the great vision of God for humanity where “the Lord of
hosts will prepare for all peoples a banquet of rich food, a banquet of fine
wines, of food rich and juicy, of fine strained wines.” Indeed, paradise
or heaven is always described as a banquet. In the gospel, the same imagery
is used with regard to God’s invitation to all men and women, Jews and
Gentiles, to come to share in His heavenly banquet. The Lord has this
banquet all prepared and is waiting for us to respond to His invitation.
Why is a
banquet an appropriate imagery of heaven? When there is food, there is pleasure
and joy. It is a fact that our body needs food and pleasure to be in good
health. But the joy of a meal is more than just eating delicious food; we need
to have good company. Food is for the body but the company is for the
soul. It is in sharing, laughing and celebrating that we experience the
love of God in our community. What more when this banquet is a wedding
banquet which is truly a celebration of love. This is why the summit of
Catholic worship is the celebration of the Eucharist, which is an anticipation
of heaven. Every Eucharist is a celebration of our wedding feast with the
bridegroom, our Lord Jesus Christ. This is what the psalmist prays,
“You have prepared a banquet for me in the sight of my foes.”
So right from
the outset, this dream of God for humanity is a wonderful dream. Heaven
on earth and in heaven is a beautiful place to be in. This concept of heaven
should dispel all the false notions that to be a Catholic is to lose our joy in
life. There are many who paint the Catholic Faith as a gloomy religion;
that it is all about laws, fasting, doing penance, making sacrifices, dying and
being at a disadvantage. No wonder, such bad news attract few to
join the Church. To be a Christian is to find life to the fullest,
for Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
(Jn 10:10)
Rather, the
Good News that Jesus comes to offer is the Good News of life, love and joy. It is the Good News
that all will have a share in the life and love of God. There will be
enough food for all and abundantly, if only the world is willing to share the
resources they have with everyone. Unfortunately, 1% of the rich owns
half of the world’s resources and the richest own 87% of the world’s
wealth. This is the result of global inequality due to selfishness and
irresponsibility. But in the vision of a heavenly banquet, when everyone
lives a responsible life, contributing their best and sharing their resources
with others as a community of love, then there will be joy and peace for
all. As the prophet Isaiah said, “On this mountain he will remove
the mourning veil covering all peoples, and the shroud enwrapping all nations,
he will destroy Death for ever.”
For this
reason, the Good News that Jesus came to offer us is given to all. Regardless of whether we are
Jews or Gentiles, rich or poor, influential or marginalized, all are invited to
this banquet of love, joy and sharing. In the gospel, Jesus told us the
parable of the Wedding Banquet. The King firstly invited the Israelites
and the Jews to the banquet. The king was still gracious when they did
not come the first time, “he sent some more servants. ‘Tell those who have been
invited that I have my banquet all prepared, my oxen and fattened cattle have
been slaughtered, everything is ready. Come to the wedding.’”
However, we
read that they rejected the prophets who invited them on behalf of God to the
Mountain of Jerusalem. “But they were not interested: one went off to his
farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his servants, maltreated
them and killed them.” Most of all, they rejected the king’s son, that is
Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This is the tragedy of grace being
rejected. And many of us are just like the Jews as well. The truth is
that the rejection of grace often need not be a blatant rejection but a
preference for evil over goodness, immorality over morality. Such people
certainly deserve condemnation and punishment, just like those who killed the
prophets. We read that “the king was furious. He dispatched his
troops, destroyed those murderers and burnt their town.” This note by the
evangelist was made because Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70
because the people did not repent by being humble and submissive. Their
arrogance and rebelliousness caused the Roman authorities to overthrow the
country.
But for most
people, when they are invited to come to the banquet and the house of God, they
appear to have valid excuses. Most people belong to this category. We read that “one
went off to his farm, another to his business.” Indeed, many of us are
preoccupied with other responsibilities. We are concerned about our jobs
and our loved ones. We have to look after them, the young and the
elderly. We have to be responsible in our job. Some of us are busy
tending to our business as many workers depend on us to provide them an
earning. The tragedy is that these people are short-sighted. They
think that by just giving their energy and focus to their responsibilities,
they can be successful and be happy. They fail to see the bigger picture
of life, which is God, friends and the invitation to love and serve and belong
to the family of God. It is this family that could give them the support
and encouragement they need, rather than just going on alone. Most of
all, although we are concerned about earthly responsibilities and temporal
affairs, we must not lose sight of the eternal values of life, which is love,
sharing, caring, fellowship with God and with our brothers and sisters.
Life is more than just work and making money. It is fellowship and
communion with each other.
For those of
us who are regular Church goers, the tragedy does not lie in the fact that we
did not receive the invitation of God to come to the wedding feast.
Indeed, we are here like those who were called from the wayside. “’The wedding is
ready; but as those who were invited proved to be unworthy, go to the
cross-roads in the town and invite everyone you can find to the wedding.’ So
these servants went out on to the roads and collected together everyone they
could find, bad and good alike; and the wedding hall was filled with
guests.” We are the fortunate ones who have been invited purely out of
the grace of God. We are invited to the banquet not because of merit,
status or position. It is purely by the grace of God that we have come to
know Jesus as the Saviour and Lord.
The real
tragedy lies in the fact that we come to the wedding feast without the wedding
garment.
This garment has been given to us at our baptism. In other words, we have
been given the necessary graces to enter heaven to celebrate the Wedding
feast. In those days, the wedding gown was provided for the guests.
Hence, there was no excuse for the man to come to the Wedding without the
Wedding garment. This explains why the man was silent when the King said to
him, “How did you get in here, my friend, without a wedding garment?” He
was irresponsible and callous, showing disrespect for his host and guests.
We too must
also ask ourselves whether we have kept the baptismal garment given to us free
from stain and that we put it on every day in our lives. To put on the
baptismal garment means to put on Christ in our attitudes, thoughts and
actions. The truth is that many of us are careless and
irresponsible in our faith. We do not take the time to pray, to read the
Word of God before every mass we celebrate. We do not treasure the
sacraments of healing that the Church gives to us, especially the Eucharist and
reconciliation. We neglect the sacraments. We fail to give Him
worship on Sundays or make time to be with the Lord daily.
Indeed, if we
are Catholic, we cannot carry on living a life of the world, a life of
immorality and selfishness. We cannot go on living as if we have never met Christ or
received His gospel. Our lives must be different from the rest of
humanity. The gift of grace entails a corresponding responsibility. The Lord
welcomes sinners into His kingdom but when we enter, we must put on Christ and
become saints. Otherwise, we would have received the grace of God in
vain.
The
consequence of rejecting the grace of God or not receiving it responsibly is
not so much the punishment of God but the deprivation of joy in our lives. “Then the king said
to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and throw him out into the dark,
where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.’” It is not God
who throws us out of the wedding banquet but we deprive ourselves of of the joy
of sharing in the wedding banquet. We will fail to realize ourselves and
the joy of love.
That was how
St Paul lived his life after knowing Christ. He was indifferent to being poor
or rich. He said, “I know how to be poor and I know how to be rich too. I
have been through my initiation and now I am ready for anything anywhere: full
stomach or empty stomach, poverty or plenty.” For St Paul, life is
more than having riches and plenty of food. Richness in life is
when we learn to trust God completely and learn to care for each other.
“There is nothing I cannot master with the help of the One who gives me
strength. All the same, it was good of you to share with me in my hardships. In
return my God will fulfil all your needs, in Christ Jesus, as lavishly as only
God can.”
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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