20201011 THE JOY OF BEING A CHRISTIAN
11 October, 2020, Sunday, 28th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Green.
First reading | Isaiah 25:6-10 © |
The Lord will prepare a banquet for every nation
On this mountain,
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.
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;
for the hand of the Lord
rests on this mountain.
Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 22(23) © |
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.
Second reading |
Philippians 4:12-14,19-20 © |
With the help of the One who gives me strength, there is nothing I cannot master
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.
Gospel Acclamation | Jn1:14,12 |
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!
Or: | cf.Ep1:17,18 |
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!
Gospel | Matthew 22:1-14 © |
Invite everyone you can to the wedding
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.’
THE JOY OF BEING A CHRISTIAN
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ISA 25:6-10; PHIL 4:12-14,19-20; MT 22:1-14 (OR ><22:1-10)]
What does it mean to be a Christian? A Christian is supposed to be full of love, life and joy. Unfortunately, quite often we find Catholics dragging their feet to church, forcing themselves to say some prayers; and reluctantly parting with some money to donate to the Church or the poor. If you are among them, it is because the Catholic Faith is simply a religion which imposes some rules and conduct for us to follow so that we will not be condemned to hell. The Catholic religion seems to be burdensome for some Catholics. It is nothing else but a list of dos and don’ts, the entry requirements to get to heaven. This explains why some Catholics are not interested to come to church, attend mass, read the bible or be involved in church ministries. They find the Catholic Faith boring. They are contented just to fulfill the minimum requirements and seek real happiness in a worldly life.
Clearly, the Catholic Faith is not what these nominal Catholics think. On the contrary, the Church is a gathering of all peoples celebrating life, love, joy and fellowship in God’s heavenly banquet. This is the fundamental theme of today’s scripture readings. There is nothing mournful about it but only joy and celebration. Isaiah gives us the description of the Messianic time, which will be realized fully at the end of time. The end time, which we call heaven, is described in terms of a wedding banquet to which we are all invited. The Prophet said, “On this mountain, 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.” In the parable of today’s gospel, Jesus spoke of the King’s invitation to his people to attend His son’s wedding feast, an allusion to the Messianic banquet of our Lord. We can imagine what a wedding feast would be like. It would have plenty of food, laughter, joy, fun and fellowship.
What is more is that all are invited to this feast. God is so gracious to invite us all without exception. As the prophet said, “the Lord will wipe away the tears from every cheek; he will take away his peoples shame everywhere on earth, for the Lord has said so.” Whether we are Jews or Gentiles, saints or sinners, the Lord graciously extends His invite to us all. No one is excluded from this feast. In the gospel, the king told his servants, “‘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.” His love excludes no one. We are loved regardless of our race, language, religion or social status. Indeed, as St Paul wrote, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal 3:28) All of us are equal as children of God. God desires first His chosen people to come to the heavenly banquet. But His invitation also goes out to all peoples on this earth.
Not only does God invite us but He even prepares us for the wedding feast. In those days, a wedding invitation has two invites, firstly to announce the wedding and a reply was expected. When the dinner was ready, the second invite would be sent out for guests to come. Over and above the invitation, all would be provided a wedding garment so that everyone would be dressed appropriately for the celebration and no one would be embarrassed. God provides us the means to come to His wedding. Indeed, He has sent messengers, His prophets and His apostles to call us to faith. God has sent us our parents, our friends, our Catholic community, through on-line masses and the use of technology to invite us to the banquet. So we have no excuse that we are not invited or that we do not know. We have no reason to say that we did not have the opportunities. Like the Jews, God had sent us messenger after messenger. But we also did not respond.
What could be the reasons? Simply because we do not believe in a free lunch. We want to pay for it. We do not want anything that is free. We believe in earning our keep. Like some of them, when they were invited for the banquet, “one went off to his farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his servants, maltreated them and killed them.” We are too busy with our own affairs, our work and our business. Like the Jews, we believe that hard work alone brings success. So is our salvation. We must earn it and be fully occupied with our work. This is even true for those involved in Church ministry and services to the poor. Even priests and religious are not interested in fellowship. We are busy with our planning, writing, ministering and engagements. We are so busy that we forget that it is the Lord we are serving! Our work and ministry keep Him out of our lives!
But this is where we got it all wrong. God does not want us to do work for Him. He wants us to be in fellowship with Him. To be invited to the banquet means that God wants to be in intimacy with us. We remember the case of Mary and Martha. Jesus wanted to have time with them, to converse with them, rather than to eat. Martha was busy working and preparing a meal for our Lord. And the Lord responded by saying, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.” (Lk 10:41f) There is a time for ministry and for service. But the most important time is always for intimacy with the Lord. When we have a meal with our loved ones, it is not to talk about work but to share our life, joys, sorrows, aspirations and struggles with each other so that we know that we are not alone in this difficult journey of life. Jesus wants our presence, not our presents. This is what heaven is all about, to dwell in the house of God as the responsorial psalm says. And where is heaven, if not in the bosom of our Lord?
Of course, we can attend the banquet but refuse to wear the wedding garment. This refers to those of us who are baptized and have been given the wedding garment as a symbol of our newness in Christ. We are called to die to our old self and put on Christ in the way we think, the way we talk, the way we conduct ourselves with others. (cf Rom 13:14) We must show ourselves to be different from the world. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Rom 12:2) The reality is that after baptism, we did not die to ourselves. We continue to live a life of sin and selfishness. We cause division in our community, like the man who wanted to be different from the rest by not wearing the wedding garment. This is being irresponsible, self-centered and individualistic.
There is a warning for those of us who fail to respond positively to the wedding invitation, or neglect to wear the wedding garment. We will be thrown into the dark where we would live lonely lives, without any true sense of belonging and joy in life. By rejecting the wedding dinner, we only deprive ourselves of the joy the Lord is giving us. By continuing to wear our dirty garments, we will find ourselves out of place in the presence of God and those who are clean and gracious. We all know how uncomfortable we are when we are not properly attired for a function. Like the man when asked, “How did you get in here, my friend, without a wedding garment?” He was silent and ashamed!
The second reading invites us to be like St Paul. Although he had earlier rejected the monetary help of the Corinthians, he was willing to accept the contribution of the Philippians. Earlier on, he did not want to appear to be making use of the Corinthians by accepting their donations. But in this case, he needed help financially, which the Philippians offered. Paul showed himself to be gracious when the situation demanded it. He was not too proud to accept help from them. He was always open to the grace of God. He was grateful to them but he also learnt to be equanimous in all situations, whether in riches or poverty, hunger or fullness. But he also does not make use of people for his selfish needs.
Today, in coming for the celebration of the Eucharist, which is the summit of the Catholic Faith, it is our affirmation that the Church is basically a call to communion with each other through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit. The Eucharist is truly a foretaste of the life to come. It is what heaven is all about. It is a state of joy, fellowship and plenty, as 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. The Lord will wipe away the tears from every cheek.” Indeed, life is ours when we live in love and communion with God and with each other. Death is the consequence of sin, which is living for oneself. Love lives on even when death separates us. May our Eucharistic celebration bring us closer to the Lord and to each other so that His joy may be in us and our joy be complete in Him.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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