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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

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

“I really don’t want to go to this lunch,” Bill won’t mind will he?” That was the question one friend asked of another. Only problem was, Bill would mind. They were all on holiday in Bill’s native country. Bill’s relatives had offered to fix lunch for the entire group. And better yet, the hosts were going to bring lunch to the group so that no one would have to leave the beautiful house on the sea where they were staying. “Oh, I don’t think that would be a good idea. I think Bill’s feelings will be hurt.” “But I want to go to the national park." “Can’t you go after lunch?” “I’d prefer to go before lunch. I won’t be missed.” “You will be missed. The invitation went to all of us. But, of course, the decision is yours." Lunch was a glorious feast of specially prepared meats and cheeses, locally grown vegetables, crisp salad, homemade bread, and fresh-baked blueberry crumble. Drinks and conversations flowed freely. Everyone had a magnificent time—including the national park-goer who decided to delay her trip. She was overheard telling others weeks later that lunch with Bill’s family was the highlight of the trip. Some invitations just shouldn’t be passed up.

Authors Patrice J. Tuohy

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In other words

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

Jesus responded by telling still more stories. “God’s kingdom,” he said, “is like a king who threw a wedding banquet for his son. He sent out servants to call in all the invited guests. And they wouldn’t come! “He sent out another round of servants, instructing them to tell the guests, ‘Look, everything is on the table, the prime rib is ready for carving. Come to the feast!’ “They only shrugged their shoulders and went off, one to weed his garden, another to work in his shop. The rest, with nothing better to do, beat up on the messengers and then killed them. The king was outraged and sent his soldiers to destroy those thugs and level their city. “Then he told his servants, ‘We have a wedding banquet all prepared but no guests. The ones I invited weren’t up to it. Go out into the busiest intersections in town and invite anyone you find to the banquet.’ The servants went out on the streets and rounded up everyone they laid eyes on, good and bad, regardless. And so the banquet was on—every place filled. “When the king entered and looked over the scene, he spotted a man who wasn’t properly dressed. He said to him, ‘Friend, how dare you come in here looking like that!’ The man was speechless. Then the king told his servants, ‘Get him out of here—fast. Tie him up and ship him to hell. And make sure he doesn’t get back in.’ “That’s what I mean when I say, ‘Many get invited; only a few make it’ ” (from Matthew 22). From A New Message 4 Next Week (actapublications.com) based on The Message: Catholic/Ecumenical Edition by Eugene Peterson (ACTA Publications, 2013).

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