Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 142
Reading 1
On this mountain the LORD of hosts
will provide for all peoples
a feast of rich food and choice wines,
juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines.
On this mountain he will destroy
the veil that veils all peoples,
the web that is woven over all nations;
he will destroy death forever.
The Lord GOD will wipe away
the tears from every face;
the reproach of his people he will remove
from the whole earth; for the LORD has spoken.
On that day it will be said:
"Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us!
This is the LORD for whom we looked;
let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!"
For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (6cd) I shall live in the house of the Lord all the
days of my life.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.
R. I
shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
He guides me in right paths
for his name's sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
with your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
R. I
shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
R.
I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.
R.
I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
Reading 2
Brothers and sisters:
I know how to live in humble circumstances;
I know also how to live with abundance.
In every circumstance and in all things
I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry,
of living in abundance and of being in need.
I can do all things in him who strengthens me.
Still, it was kind of you to share in my distress.
My God will fully supply whatever you need,
in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
To our God and Father, glory forever and ever. Amen.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
enlighten the eyes of our hearts,
so that we may know what is the hope
that belongs to our call.
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and elders of the
people
in parables, saying,
"The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who gave a wedding feast for his son.
He dispatched his servants
to summon the invited guests to the feast,
but they refused to come.
A second time he sent other servants, saying,
‘Tell those invited: “Behold, I have prepared my banquet,
my calves and fattened cattle are killed,
and everything is ready; come to the feast.”’
Some ignored the invitation and went away,
one to his farm, another to his business.
The rest laid hold of his servants,
mistreated them, and killed them.
The king was enraged and sent his troops,
destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.
Then he said to his servants, 'The feast is ready,
but those who were invited were not worthy to come.
Go out, therefore, into the main roads
and invite to the feast whomever you find.’
The servants went out into the streets
and gathered all they found, bad and good alike,
and the hall was filled with guests.
But when the king came in to meet the guests,
he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment.
The king said to him, 'My friend, how is it
that you came in here without a wedding garment?'
But he was reduced to silence.
Then the king said to his attendants, 'Bind his hands and feet,
and cast him into the darkness outside,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’
Many are invited, but few are chosen."
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
God has given us an open invitation to the wedding feast and has an expectation that we will attend. He wants all of us in His creation to participate in this celebration for our benefit and not for His. The feast represents heaven and all of those who attend are the elect; those who have chosen to accept Him as God and entered into a relationship with Him. It doesn’t matter what condition we are in when invited or where we have been. There is no pre-condition to this invitation; only a willingness to love Him and be with Him. It is when the invitation is accepted that a change is required and that from which we came from is left behind in exchange for what lies ahead: a whole new life with God.
The required change mentioned is not something that we can do alone but is part of the wedding feast experience that starts immediately when the invitation is accepted. Like all weddings, the excitement does not start on the day of the celebration but starts immediately with the preparation. The excitement slowly builds day after day until the time of the banquet arrives. The planning is part of the fun and there is joy watching everything come together with the focus being on the big day. When we accept the invitation we are participators in the planning of the wedding feast because we are an intricate part of all festivities that will make up the day. It is as much about us as it is about everything and everyone else. As we plan for the day we change as a result. There is much to do and much to organize so as to be ready for the day. This is what happens when we accept the invitation from God: our focus changes and what is important in our lives change. God becomes first and everything is built and planned around Him. We should want to be fully prepared when we finally go and welcome Him. Upon accepting God into our lives, which is the acceptance of the invitation, we should start making changes and allow Him to make changes that will then begin the preparation process for that very special day.
Jesus is at once the messenger and our helper regarding this banquet. He is always with us to help prepare ourselves for the day when we will finally be with God completely. Listening to Him and allowing Him to make the changes necessary in our lives to be fully ready to meet God is a requirement that we do have to follow. We cannot claim to accept the invitation but then refuse to be prepared now and forever. The preparations benefit us two-fold: now in this life and for the rest of our existence onward into eternity. It would be wise to listen to Him and react to what He is telling us. He would never lead us astray and He would never give us bad advice. Not listening to what He tells us to do will lead us into a situation where we are in conflict and opposition to the preparations and plans that were set into motion the day that we accepted the invitation. This would then put us into a situation where we are not ready and not wanting to be with God, for not listening to God is the same thing as refusing what God has to offer. It is not failure on our part but more like a refusal to take part in the celebration fully knowing what the consequences will be and still doing it anyway.
Letting Jesus Christ guide us in our preparation and the changes that result open us up to a whole new way of looking at things. What we have experienced and what we will experience in the future while living our lives will be fundamentally different than anything before. Our lives become reordered around Jesus with an understanding that what He wants us to do matters more than what we want to do. We become selfless instead of selfish which in turn helps us experience God’s creation in a way that He intended us to do in the first place: with Him at the center. It is from the center that God can then rain down all of His love and all of His gifts with no impediment. It is from the center that He can fulfill all of our needs, wants, and desires that will completely satisfy us. This satisfaction does not come in a material sense and is not formulated around desires of the flesh but instead are grounded in the spiritual which will always be victorious over anything that the material has to offer. There is no comparison and we will easily see that when God is where He should be: at the center.
God wants to celebrate with us. He wants the celebration to start now and continue into eternity. Part of the celebration is the preparation. Both the preparation and celebration really never end. That is the most wonderful part about it. Our relationship with God is eternal and everything about it has a lasting impact in a good way. There is no need to look into the future with anticipation when there can be joy and celebration now if we just allow it to happen. Welcome God in and start the preparations now. He is waiting for us to say yes.
Deacon Tom
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
The Wedding Feast that God invites us to is one where everyone is welcome regardless of stature, position, or prestige. In fact, those of us who find ourselves broken and downtrodden will be lifted up to a higher place of honor than those who have not experienced a life without God. The feast is continuous. There is no beginning or end just as there is no starting point or finish to God’s Love. As others arrive, those who have begun to celebrate welcome the new arrivals as ones who welcome a king. The new arrivals are dirty and worn; fresh from their experiences which were of nightmarish proportions. It is here, within the banquet hall that they can finally rest. The food that is eaten is that which comes from Jesus Christ. It nourishes us spiritually so that we are strengthened beyond our present condition whatever it may be.
At the same time, there has to be some recognition here. Who put on this feast? Who invited everyone to attend? It is God who called us forth to enjoy this great celebration which focuses on His only Son and His wedding. This wedding is all about Jesus Christ and the Holy Mother Church which was established by Him on this earth so that we may encounter Him in our daily lives and achieve salvation. Coming to the wedding feast indicates a commitment to Jesus and to His Church; we become witnesses to this glorious event and partakers in all the benefits that flow from it. Even though the celebration is about the wedding, we are all benefactors of what has happened. God has invited us into a relationship with Jesus and has offered everything to us in return for celebrating the event. We are then challenged in regards to how we are to react to it. We can callously come forward in expectation to reap the benefits of a free party or we can delve into the full experience and joy. God has offered everything out front without and preconditions. He just asks us to accept the invitation and everything that comes afterwards.
Usually, in our experiences, we are invited to a celebration only if we have some sort of significance or importance to the particular event. In this case, with God, we are invited solely because He loves us and because He wants us to enjoy the celebration. Jesus has become flesh and dwells amongst us. He has established His Church. In contrast where other peoples’ weddings are about themselves, He is actually offering all of these benefits to us. We are celebrating our own salvation and victory over Satan.
How are we going to treat this? Are we to arrive at the wedding feast without any recognition regarding to what it means? To do this means that we might be rejected. Coming forward with an interest but not a commitment to the celebration leads to an event such as that which occurred with the man not dressed in wedding attire. The message is clear: we must fully commit to what God is offering us through Jesus Christ. From there, we can experience the fundamental change in our lives which is necessary for salvation. God offers everything. We only need to accept it.
Paul reminds us in his letter today that whatever circumstance that he encounters is nothing in comparison to his relationship with Jesus Christ. That is the most important factor that keeps him going forward evangelizing the faith in Jesus. If things are good, then praise God. If things are bad, then praise God more. In the end, it doesn’t matter. He recognizes that God is with him through it all and he will be okay. Whatever he encounters will work out in the end for the greater glory of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus has a plan for all of us. He loves us so much that He doesn’t want to force us into His plan. We need to accept it, embrace it, and love it. It is our choice. He reminds us that the consequences of that choice will have a great impact on our future in this life and the next.
Deacon Tom
My sisters and brothers in Christ,
Banquets and parties—and yet the invited don’t show up. Today’s readings are about God’s invitation to you and to me. Will we answer his invitation?
The first reading today is from the Prophet Isaiah. The Prophet tells us that God will provide a banquet for all peoples. Everyone is invited. God wants all to be saved. God will destroy death forever. All will rejoice that God has saved us.
This is a strong message because so many in our world do not want salvation for everyone nor even do many people want good things for everyone. There is enormous competition in our world—and so many, perhaps even ourselves, want to be ahead of others. Such desires destroy our humanity. We can strive to be the very best person that we can be—but never in competition with another. We can strive to serve others to the best of our ability—but not by competing with others. God wants us all to be saved and that should always be our prayer for our sisters and brothers. May they be the person that God has created them to be: and if they are better than we, so be it.
The second reading is from the Letter to the Philippians. Here Saint Paul is teaching us: “I know how to live in humble circumstances; I know also how to live with abundance.” The challenge is for us to live the same way. Whether we have power and might and money or whether we have nothing, we must know how to live for God’s glory and not for our own purposes.
Today’s Gospel from Saint Matthew brings us back to banquets! Now the King, God Himself, is giving a banquet and those invited don’t come to the banquet. Jesus uses this image as an image of the Kingdom of God. We are all invited! Are we going to respond to the invitation of Jesus? God wants us. God also invites us to live in a way given to us by Jesus Himself. So many people today no longer believe that Jesus is Lord, that Jesus is God, that Jesus is Savior.
When we acknowledge that Jesus is Lord, God and Savior, then we can understand how important it is to respond to His invitation and to live as He has shown us: love for all others, sacrifice of ourselves for the sake of others, trying to give our lives completely to the Lord through the service of others.
Just as in today’s Gospel, God will not force us. Jesus accepts our freedom to reject Him and His invitation to the banquet of the Kingdom. Even though Jesus is God and Lord, He will never compel us against our own choices. So we are left in the end with our own choice: I don’t have to be perfect. I don’t have to do everything right. I can make mistakes.
At the center of my heart there is only question: Am I seeking to follow the Lord Jesus?
Your brother in the Lord,
Abbot Philip
We are invited today to
banquet of rich food and fine wine. A banquet that will be held on God’s
mountain. At this banquet death and shame will be lifted from us, our sadness
turned to joy, our tears wiped away. We will live like Adam and Eve in
paradise. We are today invited to share heaven with God.
Do you like the sound of that?
Do you think you will RSVP to that invitation?
Will you go to the banquet?
Jesus was very worried that we wouldn’t come, that we would lose our way and
get distracted. That this world would get in the way, that we wouldn’t believe
the invitation. So he told the priests and elders a couple of parables. In the
first parable the king calls those invited to the banquet but they don’t come and
even worse attack the kings messengers. That’s easy to interpret, it’s aimed at
Gods chosen people Israel, as they turn their back on God and don’t accept his
invitation. Then wonderfully God offers the invitation to everyone, to us the
gentiles, we are now able to come to Gods heavenly banquet.
The second parable strikes me much harder, I don’t like it. It seems unfair.
The people now come and enjoy the banquet, but one man isn’t wearing a wedding
garment and just because of his clothes is thrown out. That scares me as I want
to be at that banquet, I want to stay at that banquet, I don’t want to be
thrown out. How do I ensure I wear the right clothes?
Well the clothes represent your life, or at least your life since accepting the
invitation, your life since you accepted the gift of grace. Your clothes and
your life are washed white at baptism, kept clean by the life you lead and the
sacraments, particularly reconciliation and the Eucharist.
We all do wrong, we all sin, we all ruin the clothes we will wear to the
banquet. God knows that, which is why he never stops forgiving, never stops
showering us in grace. By accepting his grace we become responsible for our
lives, we must try and live lives worthy of that grace, to be proud and
grateful for the clothes God has given us. Clothes that through Grace, are so
easy to clean so easy to repair.
The next question is then what should I be doing in my new clothes. Well
today’s psalm can help, psalm 22, is one of my favourites. It’s often read at
baptisms and speaks wonderfully of the lifelong protection God provides. Today
the last verse has stood out for me, I have often drawn comfort from the line,
“Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me all the days of my life.” But
today I read it differently; today I found a challenge it that line. Maybe it
means I am challenged to provided goodness and kindness all of my days, it
follows me because I am supposed to leave a trail of goodness and kindness. If
I dwell with the lord, my life is His, I have a responsibility to live a life
filled with the grace he has given me. When I fail I can always turn back to
Him and always be forgiven, but when I succeed what differences can I make to
this damaged world, how can I do my bit to help Gods kingdom come, on earth as
it is at the banquet on that mountain in heaven.
Hello Friends,
I am forwarding this excellent email I recently received, to you. It is very inspiring, and true, to those who Believe.
Hugh Maguire
Secret Power of The Holy Rosary
Father Gabriel Amorth,
Chief Exorcist at the Vatican writes: One day a Colleague of Mine Heard
The Devil Say During an Exorcism, “Every Hail Mary is Like A Blow On My Head.
If Christians Knew How Powerful The Rosary Was, It Would Be My End!”
The Secret that makes
this Prayer so effective is that the Rosary is both prayer and Meditation. It
is addressed to the Father, to the Blessed Virgin, and to the Holy Trinity, and
is a Meditation centered on Christ.
Spread this Powerful
Prayer of Exorcism, the Rosary; which contains the Our Father, the Perfect
Prayer, prayed five times in the recitation of each set of the Rosary’s
Mysteries, backed up by the Powerful Prayers of Our Mother who prays with us as
we pray 53 Hail Mary’s.
The Eternal Father
described to a group of us, through a Visionary Friend of mine, what happens
when we pray the Rosary, saying, “When you pray: Holy Mary Mother of God, pray
for us Sinners now……, the Blessed Mother comes instantly to your side to pray with
you. And she does not come alone. She brings Angels with her. And not just one
or two for she is the Queen of Angels, so Choirs of angels come with her. And
she and Jesus are joined at the Heart and cannot be separated so she brings
Jesus with her. And Jesus cannot be separated from the Trinity, so He brings
the Father and the Holy Spirit with Him, and where the Holy Trinity is, all of
creation is, and you are surrounded by such beauty and light as you cannot
imagine in this life.
Your Mother comes as Our
Lady Of Grace with her hands outstretched. Rays of light emit from her hands
piercing your body, healing you and filling you with graces. This is your
inheritance which was poured out from the heart of Jesus on the Cross, when the
centurion pierced His Heart with the spear, into the only pure vessel ready to
receive such graces at that time, Your Mother.
Now as you Pray the
Rosary, or even just Recite one Hail Mary, you receive your portion of these
Graces." He also said at this time, “Anyone who goes to Mary and Prays the
Rosary cannot be touched by Satan.”
Is it any wonder that
anyone who prays the Rosary from the Heart is so Blessed and protected
and Powerful in their Prayers for others? Come, let us ask our Mother’s
intercession more often.
Peace, Kim Holt
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