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Exploring the word

15 Oct 2017 - Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

You didn’t have to be a scout to know their motto: “Be prepared.” Jesus tells a string of stories with this punch line. However we might plead our case at the end of the age, the one defense we cannot make is that we weren’t forewarned. Each tale of withered fig trees, negligent bridesmaids, or jealous tenants reminds us that, when the call is issued, we’d better come up with the goods. Jesus walks through town and invites potential disciples to follow. There’s no evidence he ever returns to repeat the offer. This week, we hear the story of another wedding banquet. It’s the invitation of a lifetime: to sit at the king’s table for a royal celebration! Whether your aim is ultimate networking, gluttonous dining, fashion ogling, or simply advertising allegiance to your king, this is the one offer you can’t refuse this season. Yet many do. Folks go out of their way to rebuff the invitation with an air of self-importance. A few abuse the messengers, even to the point of death. How surreal is that? The king replies with a slaughter of his own. It doesn’t pay to be too busy to honor your monarch. Having dispatched the original guest list, more servants are sent out to recruit every random citizen they can find. These, fortunately, have nothing better to do and fill the royal hall. Yet we soon learn that making an appearance isn’t enough. Attendance at this affair demands real investment. One guest, at least, is banished in appalling style. Of course, none of this is journalism, the record of yet another royal wedding gone awry. This parable is about being called and knowing how to respond. It’s about responding and recognizing the gravity of what you do. Religion isn’t a bill to be paid, or a game played to win a prize. Faith involves irrevocable allegiance to an ultimate authority. It’s about recognizing the sacred summons when it comes and responding without hesitation, holding nothing back. Faith requires that we’re serious about this, not sloppy or self-deceived about slipping one by past the Almighty. The stakes are high, and of all the aspects of our life that require a genuine personal investment, we really don’t want to get this one wrong. Isaiah puts it another way. On the one hand, rich food and choice wines await those of us who invest our confidence in God. In addition, the terrible web of death that hangs precipitously over us with grim foreshadowing all our lives will be cut loose to liberate those who attend this feast. Is there any good reason to deny yourself the fullness of life you were born for? Your invitation is already in the mail. Related scripture links Three parables of judgment: Matt. 21:28-32, 21:33-43, 22:1-14 God's ongoing invitation to grace: Rom. 1:16-17, 5:20-21; Col. 1:13-14 Church as sign of greater reality: 1 Cor. 12:12-13, 27; Eph. 1:22-23, 4:4-6 Paul's freedom in Christ: Rom. 5:1-5, 6:3-11, 18-23; Gal. 4:1-7, 21-31, 5:1, 13; Col. 3:11; 2 Tim. 2:9 Catechism links Eucharist: CCC 1322-1344; 1382-1405; 2042; 2177-2183 Wedding feast: CCC 545-546; 796

Authors Alice Camille

wedding banquet guests responses invitations

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Homily stories

21 Jul 2019 - Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

A few years ago, my wife and I added a new routine to our preparations for family parties that we host. It’s made a world of difference. We host relatives and friends at Thanksgiving every year. A number of years ago the preparations involved in serving the feast and keeping the guests entertained and their drinks refreshed seemed to become a chore. It even got to the point where, as the last guests left, we wondered where the day had gone. Then one year we made a change. We decided that an hour before the guests were to arrive, we would take a walk. For half an hour or so my wife and I walk the streets around our house, noticing the season, greeting our neighbors, and feeling alive. The break from endless preparations and worry gives us a new perspective so that when the first guests arrive we are delighted with the gift of their presence and offer them our own. Of course as the time for our walk nears we always tell ourselves there’s way too much to do to squander half an hour before the party starts. But then we remember Martha and Mary and decide to stop being worried and anxious about many things and choose the better part—preparing our hearts for our guests. With that accomplished, the rest seems to take care of itself.

Authors Tom McGrath

martha and mary guests worry hospitality

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Homily stories

21 Jul 2019 - Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

Though I readily empathize with Mary’s poor, beleaguered sister, Martha, I think we do the gospel a disservice when we pass her off as a fussbudget hostess whom Jesus gives a little set down. Martha’s anxiety goes much deeper than that. What keeps Martha from listening to Jesus? She has many duties and concerns: The food needs to be prepared and people need to be served. Certainly those are important tasks. The issue isn’t that Martha chooses to tend to her guests; it’s that she is keeping herself busy and distracted so that she doesn’t have to face Jesus. How often do we do the same? We don’t mind having Jesus within earshot, but we don’t want him so close that we can’t avoid his gaze. The last thing we want is for God to ask more of us. But God doesn’t relent. The message is clear: We are called to be with Jesus. Many of us, like Martha, aren’t ready to follow because we worry about the high cost of discipleship. So we make excuses and even try to pull others from their attentiveness to God to make ourselves feel better. We go to great lengths to avoid divine expectations that we be good and giving people, which may include some worldly discomfort or suffering. But the truth is we’re going to suffer. So ask yourself this question: Would you rather suffer with Christ, or without him? Choose the better part.

Authors Patrice J. Tuohy

martha and mary guests attentiveness

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Homily stories

19 Dec 2021 - Fourth Sunday of Advent, Cycle C

A day or so or so after my mother died, my sister- and brother-in-law appeared at my door with a pecan pie. For the next couple of hours, we sat in the kitchen, ate pie, drank tea, and shared memories of our mothers. I was genuinely moved and grateful for their thoughtfulness (pecan pie is a favorite), kindness, and gift of time. To this day when I think of authentic hospitality, that comforting visit is the first thing that comes to mind. Today’s story of Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth invites you to think about the ways you offer and receive hospitality. For example, how do you welcome others into your home? (Think of Elizabeth’s welcoming words to Mary.) We have to rely on our imagination for the rest, but Mary’s stay surely included sharing meals, heartfelt conversation, and consoling laughter—all offered and received on a foundation of sincere care and concern for the other. What sort of guest are you? What is essential for genuine hospitality—and what is not? What can you do in these last days of the Advent season to revive the ancient art of hospitality in your family and community?

Authors Ann O'Connor

hospitality mary and elizabeth guests

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