TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME “A”
October 12th, 2008
Most people enjoy going to banquets. For example, I am looking forward to going to the Archbishop’s Charity Dinner at the end of this month, and I am sure that we are all looking forward to enjoying a great dinner this Thanksgiving weekend. We look forward to wedding parties, and to getting together with family at Christmastime too. Today’s Gospel passage is about a banquet. Jesus has another parable for the chief priests and Pharisees to remind them, and to remind us as well, that God calls many to come and share His life and gifts, but that not all respond positively or enthusiastically to God’s invitation.
In Jesus’ parable, a king prepared a huge wedding banquet for his son, but when the time came for the feast to begin, the invited guests were less than enthusiastic about attending. They made light of his invitation, had lame excuses for not coming to the banquet, and even killed some of the servants the king sent to remind them that the feast was ready. The king was furious with them, said that “those invited were not worthy”, and ordered his servants to go out into the main streets and invite everyone they could find, so that “the wedding hall was filled with guests” (Mt: 22:13-14).
The “Kingdom of Heaven” Jesus says, is like that. Our presence is requested urgently, for the feast of New Life Jesus offer us is now. Jesus wants an enthusiastic and immediate answer from us now to share our lives with Him and to deepen our relationship with Him as members of His Body, the Church We ought to be ashamed to admit that, for the most part, we tend to ignore Jesus’ invitation, and we give a higher priority, it would seem, to other things in our lives which we consider to be more important.
Once there was a hunting dog that was very proud of his ability as a runner. One day, a rabbit he was chasing got away, and when he returned to the kennel, the other dogs ridiculed him, because of all the boasting he had done about his speed and ability to hunt. Still, he had an explanation for his failure. He said: “You must remember that the rabbit was running for his life, while I was only running for my dinner.”
Jesus invites us to come to the banquet of life He has prepared for us. It’s is as though He were saying to us: “Run for your life. There isn’t a moment to lose. Come now and eat at the banquet I have prepared for you, which will keep you in the Kingdom of your loving and gracious God Who will never abandon you”.
So today, in light of Jesus’ parable, we ask ourselves some important questions. What does it mean for us to partake of the banquet Jesus offer us? What is the food we are to eat? I believe it is the spiritual food we absolutely need to nourish a deep, personal relationship with Jesus, and through Him with God. It is the food we can get only if we spending a good deal of time and effort in prayer and spiritual reading, and regular reception of the sacraments. Let us think for a moment about what it is that nourishes our spiritual life these days? For example, do we have a regular time for prayer each day, or do we simply ignore Jesus for most of the time? Do we use the rosary as a way to meditate on the main events in Jesus’ life and ministry? Do we ever read and reflect on the Sacred Scriptures in the Bible, the Gospels, the Psalms, the letters of Paul and others? Do we prepare ourselves for Sunday Mass by reading over the Scriptures in advance and seeking to apply them to our lives? Do we spend too much time watching T.V programs that merely entertain, but do not do much to nourish our minds and direct our hearts for good? Would it be possible for us to subscribe to Catholic T.V either on cable, or satellite dish
and regularly watch Salt and Light TV or EWTN for thought-provoking and entertaining programs that provide sound Catholic teachings for the family? . Do we make time to read good spiritual books and articles? Our parish library is full of wonderful books and some videos and DVDs that will give us plenty of good food for thought and help us build a stronger relationship with the Lord Jesus. Do we use our parish library regularly, taking out books for ourselves, and for our families? These are a few of the ways we can answer Jesus’ invitation to come to the banquet of life and be fed by Him. A final two questions: if we are not listening to the Lord Jesus, then to Whom are we listening? Are we being fed good food in our daily lives, or are we spiritually starving?
Here at Sunday Mass, we are reminded that Jesus is our Bread of Life, and that He is present to us, moment-by-moment, to satisfy our spiritual hunger, to fill our spiritual emptiness. He offers us the rich food of Truth to sustain our sense of purpose in life, our sense of meaning as human persons, our sense of worth, for we are very important to God and to His mission for the salvation of souls. God has sent us Jesus to be our Saviour, and He is, as He said Himself, “the Way, the Truth and the Life” for all. In today’s second reading we heard Paul say: “My God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Phil:4:19)
A little boy from a poor area of the inner-city was struck by a car and taken to the hospital. It was quickly determined that he was not seriously injured, but the doctor ordered that he remain overnight for observation. Soon, a nurse brought a tray to his bedside with a tall glass of milk, and a light snack. As the little boy reached out for the tray, he remembered what it was like at home, where he had to share with his brothers and sisters. He put the tray on his lap and said to the nurse: “How much can I eat and how much can I drink?” The nurse said to him
quietly: “Eat and drink as much as you can.”
The word “Eucharist” is from the Greek, meaning: “Thanksgiving”, and so every time we come to Mass, in union with Jesus we give thanks to God. On this special Thanksgiving weekend, hopefully every Canadian will pause and give thanks to the Lord for the abundance of food, and for the many blessing we enjoy in this country. Despite our many concerns about a declining economy, high gas prices, unemployment and other challenges we must face, we must admit that we are richly blessed in Canada, compared to people in many parts of the world, where there is hunger, lack of shelter, and even wars taking place. In addition, we thank God for the many spiritual gifts we have received through our beloved parents and grand-parents; for our faith, and our trust in God and in Jesus; for our love, weak though it may be at times; for the truths God has revealed to us through His Son, Jesus.
Jesus invites us to the banquet He has prepared for us. He says to each of us: “Come to Me and you shall not hunger; believe in Me and you shall not thirst. Run for your life to My banquet of rich food and fine wines and eat and drink as much as you can.”. May you and your loved ones have a wonderful, blessed Thanksgiving weekend.