Reflection on Matthew 22:34–40 from “First Impressions”

Excerpted from First Impressions, 2023, a preaching service of the Southern Dominican Province:

I have a picture on my wall, a gift from a rabbi. It shows her blessing an unfurled scroll of the Torah. The scroll was old and tattered, so the community removed it from the tabernacle and from its beautiful cloth covering. They had it restored, but before putting it back into the tabernacle, they blessed and rededicated it. This is how they did it: With the congregation assembled in the synagogue they unrolled the scroll and encircled the community with it—some members of the community, wearing white gloves, held the scroll, all the rest were inside the circle made by the unfurled scroll. The rabbi, dressed in liturgical robes and on the inside of the circle with the community, is shown in the process of rededicating the scroll before putting it back in the tabernacle. A member of the congregation said, “We couldn’t just put it away, after all it’s not an antique, a dead book. It’s the living Word of God.” The community was also rededicated along with the scroll.

Another symbol, or sign of the Jewish community’s dedication to God’s Word, is also evident, closer to home – in fact, at the entrance to Jewish homes. It is the mezuzah, a cylinder that is placed on the doorpost of a home. It contains a scriptural quote. For example, the one Jesus quotes in part today, “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore you shall love the Lord, our God, with all your heart and all your soul and with all your strength” (Dt. 6:4). Where I grew up I used to see my Jewish neighbors kiss their fingers and then touch the mezuzah on entering and leaving their homes.

Such is the devotion to God’s Word by our Jewish sisters and brothers: to encircle a community of worshipers with the written word; to kiss it as they come and go each day from their homes. Of course the mazuzah is not a good luck charm, nor kissing it mere superstition, but an expression of their desire to live a life guided by and strengthened by God’s Word, as part of a community, in their homes and beyond. When asked about the greatest commandment Jesus quoted the central commandment of Jewish faith, the one posted on the door frames. Then he takes another teaching, one among many more in the Old Testament, and places it alongside the first. Total love of God is the first commandment and joined to it, love of neighbor as yourself.

If a pagan were to ask a Jew, “Where is your image of God?” They would respond, “In God’s image we were made.” I.e. “The image of our God is o be found in each human being.” That’s what Jesus is implying in today’s gospel. How can we mere humans pay proper homage to an invisible God in our world, in our daily life? Jesus shows us how. He takes the command about loving God with all of ourselves and puts with it the love of neighbor. As Scripture suggests elsewhere: if you want to love the God you cannot see, love the human you can see. Each of us is a dwelling place of God, “In God’s image we were made.”

As I write this Israel is about to invade Gaza. Thousands have died on both sides, and thousands more will die from violence, hunger, destroyed hospitals, missals, etc. Do both sides see what both believe, “In God’s image we are made.” I shed tears watching the nightly news of the war. I have no easy answers, none are possible. From this distance I can pray and send messages to my government representatives—“Don’t forget the civilians caught in the middle. Don’t forget to work for peace!”

But we have work to do here at home as well:

The first reading from Exodus shows that God has always been especially concerned about the neediest in society. Today’s selection comes from a section in Exodus called the “Book of the Covenant,” which is a teaching of social ethics based, not on laws, but on compassion. For those in most need, laws that prohibit certain acts are not enough to protect them. Because the Israelites experienced God’s compassion when they were slaves in Egypt and as they traveled through the desert they, in turn, were to be compassionate to those in similar need. Their laws were to reflect the compassion they received. For example, they were to remember that they were once aliens in Egypt, so they were not to wrong the alien, or stranger in their own land. What does that say to our current refugee crisis here at our borders and those bused to our cities? The media coverage of our own border situation these days has made us aware of the dire circumstances of those who have had to leave their homes because of poverty and violence to find refuge in our country. Strangers and immigrants in a strange land are vulnerable to abuse and being taken advantage of. They have left the support of their families, culture and familiar surroundings in an attempt to flee their homeland and find protection. In many ways they are like the Israelites in Egypt, strangers in a foreign land and totally dependent on the hospitality of its native people—us.”

FAITH BOOK

From today’s Gospel reading: Jesus said... “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Reflection: The way we know that we are living Jesus’ commandment of total dedication to God, who is unseen, is to make that love visible by loving our neighbor as self. Jesus’ life shows us whom he considered his neighbor. Besides his disciples and friends, neighbor for Jesus included the least likely, the overlooked, the vulnerable and the people who are usually described in stereotypes.

So we ask ourselves: Is God at my center, the inspiration and impetus behind my thoughts, feelings and actions? Who is the surprising neighbor Jesus is calling me to love?

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 22, 2023

What do I owe to civil authorities? What do I owe to God?

Matthew 22:15–21

Then the Pharisees went off and plotted how they might entrap him in speech.

They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. And you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion, for you do not regard a person’s status. Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?”

Knowing their malice, Jesus said, “Why are you testing me, you hypocrites? Show me the coin that pays the census tax.” Then they handed him the Roman coin.

He said to them, “Whose image is this and whose inscription?” They replied, “Caesar’s.” At that he said to them, “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”

Music Meditations

• “Give Me Jesus” (sung by Fernando Ortega) [YouTube]
• “Come, My Way, My Truth, My Life” (arrangement by Tony Alonso) [YouTube]
• “Seek Ye First” (sung by Maranatha! Praise Band) [YouTube]
• “Lead Me, Guide Me” (sung by Morgan State University Choir) [YouTube] (gospel)

Opening Prayer

From the Carmelites:

Lord, help me to see that serving you and being a good citizen of my country need not be contradictory. Help me the choose wisely in those situations when I must make a choice, always keeping your will and your precepts in my heart. Help me to see in others a witness to your incredible care and love for everyone and everything you have created, because it is all yours.

Companions for the Journey

From “Working Preacher”:

We think of the last days of Jesus’ final week as being full of vexation.

Indeed, they were: betrayal, arrest, torture, and crucifixion. But the first two days of the week were also filled with difficulty. In Matthew’s version of the week, Jesus enters Jerusalem triumphantly on Monday and proceeds to the temple to cleanse it of abuse. Tuesday is particularly full.

Jesus returns to Jerusalem for a series of pronouncements and confrontations by religious leaders. On this day, Jesus curses the fig tree, is questioned about his authority, offers three parables that each conclude with dire warnings for those who assume they are comfortably within God’s favor.

Then he is challenged on whether to pay taxes to Caesar, is questioned about the resurrection of the dead, challenged about the greatest commandment, and engaged in discussion about the nature of the messiah.

Finally, Jesus engages in a long discourse (23:1-25:46) in which he denounces religious leaders, laments over Jerusalem, foretells destruction of the temple, gives his disciples a list of signs concerning the end times, offers additional parables, and tells of the final judgment. Tuesday was a big day.

It seems one of the chief accomplishments of the day was to put the religious leaders in their place. Jesus overwhelms his verbal adversaries and denounces temple leadership so thoroughly that by the next day, Wednesday of Holy Week, the leaders began plotting to arrest and kill this bothersome prophet.

The pericope for this day lies within Tuesday’s busy agenda. Here we have the failed attempt by the Pharisees and Herodians to trap Jesus on what appears to be a political issue: whether or not it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. We might imagine the smugness with which they employ this trap. The Pharisees are against the Roman occupation government, so they bring along the Herodians, people obliged to Rome for keeping Herod in puppet power.

Governments are necessary, taxes may be necessary, and every country has a Caesar of sorts to contend with. So, render unto that Caesar whatever is due. But, don’t mess around with the things that belong to God.

Whom do we belong to? Sometimes it seems like we belong to Caesar. Taxes, legal restrictions on our freedoms, imprisonment if you engage in civil disobedience. Or, perhaps, we feel that our job owns us. Or our families. Sometimes, we even feel owned by our material possessions. Ralph Waldo Emerson said it: “Things are in the saddle, and ride mankind.”

But to whom do we really belong? Take a look at any person. Whose inscription is on him or her? Each is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). There can be no doubt, then, what Jesus means here. Give yourselves to God because it is to him that you belong. 

It is God who claims us, who made us in his own image. We do not belong to anything or to anyone else. We don’t even belong to ourselves. We belong to God in all our being, with all our talents, interests, time, and wealth. “We give thee but thine own, whatever the gift may be. All that we have is thine alone, a trust, O Lord, from thee.”

The consequences of belonging to God are remarkable. First, it means that God will not forsake us. The Pharisees and the other religious leaders that Jesus denounces were notoriously bad at caring for the people. They forsook their responsibilities and the people God gave into their care. They deserved condemnation. But, God does not forsake his own. By Friday of Holy Week, Jesus made that clear in the boldest way possible.

Second, it means that because we belong to God, we belong to the people of God, the body of Christ. We are baptized into this fellowship and can only lose our membership by turning our backs on God. If there is any alienation, it is our own doing. And, if we return, God is there, as always.

Third, it means that we give to God that which belongs to God’s: that is, we give ourselves. We take the sacred trust and invest it in lives of worship. Sometimes, that worship occurs privately, in devotion. Sometimes, in church with our brothers and sisters in Christ. And the rest of the time, it occurs in the sphere of daily work and service. All of this is worship. Ultimately, giving ourselves to God means that we give ourselves to the world.

Further reflection:

• “What’s in Your Heart?” >>, a homily by Fr. Brendan McGuire for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (year A)

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

• What in your life belongs “to Caesar”?
  What belongs only “to God”?
  When do these duties overlap?
• Have I ever felt that my worldly obligations have taken time away from God?
• Has there been a time when I was pressured by the prevailing culture of the workplace or the world I inhabit into making a decision that went against my principles?
  How did it turn out?
  How did I feel?
• When has my duty to God impelled me to speak out against the inequitable or cruel treatment of others by our own government, for example?
• Is there a contradiction between being a good citizen and serving God?
  Do I see Church and state on a collision course?
• If we were to live in a theocracy (no daylight between the laws of God as expressed by religious and civil laws) which religion should be the defining standard?
• Do I have a double standard regarding religious intrusions into political discourse (My Catholic views are ok, but others’ religious views are not)?
• Should my church tell me whom or what to vote for?
  Should it tell me what or whom to vote against?
• Does legitimate civil power have a right to ask anything from us (voting in elections, obedience to laws, the payment of taxes, conscription in the military, for example)?
  What does it not have a right to ask of me?
• Where does the notion of civil disobedience fit into the meaning of this gospel?
• What do I think I should render to God on earth, specifically to the people of God, to all God’s creation, including the natural world?
  Can the term “rendering unto God” be interpreted as working for just laws, support for the poor and marginalized, respect for all life? Can it be interpreted as working to wipe out racism, sexism, elitism of any kind?
• What am I personally unwilling to render to God?
  For this week, keep track of where you spend your money and what you spend it on. What does your checkbook and your datebook tell you about your priorities?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

Adapted from “First Impressions” 2002:

It is clear from church teaching that we Christians are called to engage the world and bring our beliefs with us into Caesar’s domain. Vatican II reminded us to take our faith into the market place and interpret our times in the light of the gospel. If we have any doubts all we have to do is to read papal and episcopal documents that address: poverty, globalization, war, abortion, the death penalty, health care, environment, the economy. These teachings remind us that the church of Jesus’ followers doesn’t exist apart from the world and that we are called to be agents of change for peace and justice. It is God’s will that all people be treated justly, the poor cared for and everyone must be given respect and treated with dignity as a child of God.

What is my job as a citizen to call out the failures and omissions, the cruelties and injustices that our system perpetuates? What is my job as a citizen to address poverty, to care for the sick and lonely, to bring justice to the captives, to welcome the stranger? Is this only the job of government, or do I have a part to play? What am I doing in this regard right now? If not right now, when will be the right time to get started?

A Meditation in the Dominican Style:

Psalm 72

1O God, give your judgment to the king, to a king’s son your justice,
2that he may judge your people in justice, and your poor in right judgment.
3May the mountains bring forth peace for the people, and the hills justice.
4May he defend the poor of the people, and save the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor.
5He shall endure like the sun and the moon through all generations.
6He shall descend like rain on the meadow, like showers that water the earth.
7In his days shall justice flourish, and great peace till the moon is no more.

12For he shall save the needy when they cry, the poor, and those who are helpless.
13He will have pity on the weak and the needy, and save the lives of the needy.
14From oppression and violence he redeems their souls; to him their blood is dear.
15Long may he live!

Read sections from Psalm 72, then reflect on the way power is revered in our society, and, in the main, how that power is used. What are the dangers of power? This psalm is frequently used as a description of the way an ideal ruler must use power. Think of our history and all of the ways in which power has been abused. Has this been the story in our own church? In our country? Reflect on these verses as you make your voting decisions for November.

Poetic Reflection:

When we say we want to give to God what is God's, what, exactly, do we mean? Wendell Berry reflects on the ways we pay lip service to God, but are really in the service of another reality altogether…

“We Who Prayed and Wept”

We who prayed and wept
for liberty from Kings
and the yoke of liberty
accept the tyranny of things
we do not need.
In plenitude too free,
we have become adept
beneath the yoke of greed.

Those who will not learn
in plenty to keep their place
must learn it by their need
when they have had their way
and the fields spurn their seed.
We have failed Thy grace.
Lord, I flinch and pray,
send Thy necessity.

—from Collected Poems

Closing Prayer

Jesus, I ask for courage to stand up for what is true and just. Help me to speak out against the atrocities of war, genocide, systemic poverty and the cruelties that people seem to visit on one another, all in the name of being right. Help me not to be too quick to judge those whose decisions are other than I would approve of, and help me to have patience with the mistakes I and others make in living out our lives. Then help me to rest in the hope that in Your will is our peace.

What’s in Your Heart?

A homily by Fr. Brendan McGuire for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (year A)

Many of you have seen that advertisement on television for credit cards
that always ends with "...What's in your wallet?" 
The premise behind that advertisement 
is to suggest that our credit card in some way defines who we are. 
In some way, how we spend our money does say something about us. 
To a certain extent what and where we spend our money tells us
what is important in our lives.

Probably a better indicator of what defines us as people 
is how we spend our time. 
If we want to know what defines a huge portion of our lives
it is where we spend our time. 
More importantly with whom do we spend our time? 
Or on what do you spend your time? 
If we spend time with this group of people 
then we are saying they are more important versus this group of people.
Students at school know this reality all too well.
There are other ways in which we could understand what defines us. 
Yes, it is what we spend our money on; 
and yes, it is what and where we spend our time. 
But it is also with whom we spend our time. 
The "who" is important.
Even more than that, what defines us is who we are willing to stand up for. 
Who are we willing to defend? 
Who are we willing to be vulnerable for?
That tells us a lot about ourselves. 
All of these, in some way, all of these together in their complexity 
will tell us about who we are and what we are.

In today's gospel, we hear this story about paying taxes to Cesar or not. 
People have often misused this scripture to talk about 
the justification to pay taxes or not pay taxes; 
or separation of church and state. 
That is a complete misreading of the scripture. 
Even the most unscholarly approach can figure out that.
Right from the beginning Jesus calls them hypocrites. 
We know by the way they ask their question that is a trick question.
There is a part of us that has to at least enjoy it a tad bit.
How Jesus takes on these most unlikely adversaries; 
he just cuts them down with two phrases:  
Show me the coin. Whose head is this on the back? 
And he just cuts to the quick really fast. 
We might not be distracted by the brilliance of Jesus' answer 
but by what is actually happening in the context here. 
The religious leaders and Herodians were enemies. 
Yet these two enemies came together 
to trick Jesus into saying something that they could hold against him.

But what does Jesus do? 
Jesus reframes it completely. 
Then asks, "What is their priority in life?" 
This is not just about the money. 
It is an indicator. Sure. 
It is time. It is an indicator. 
But what in fact is our highest priority? 
Time, money, who you spend your time with and who we stand up for. 
All these are indicators. 
But in the end, we have to ask the question of ourselves;
"What is the top priority in our lives?" 
Everything else flows from that.

My fear is that as Catholic Christians, 
we do not think about that, half nearly enough. 
We get caught up in the busyness of life. 
We just churn from day to day. 
We go almost like on automatic pilot. 
We do not ask the questions of what is the most important thing in my life.
What is the most important reality of my life? 
And until something actually happens, 
when we get sick or somebody dies, 
then all of a sudden our whole reality gets woken up 
and then we start asking that question.
Must we wait for that moment? 
Is that what has to happen? 
Is that the only way we are going to wake up 
from our secular slumber? 
I plead with you to not.

In some way, shape or form, your faith has made a difference 
because you are here on a Sunday morning 
when most of the world is in bed or at home relaxing. 
Somehow you know that it is a priority of something in your life. 
And this one hour has made itself a priority; 
whether it is the community; 
whether it is the environment; 
whether it is the Mass; 
There is something. 
It got you here. 
But one hour is not enough guys. 
One hour out of 168 hours will not make a difference. 
Oh, I would love if it would make that much of a difference. 
I would cherish that I could stay up here for 10 minutes of preaching
and somehow that would radically change your life for the rest of the week. 
But I am not that foolish. 
I know that fundamentally it takes more than one hour out of 168 hours 
to make changes in your and my life. 
And we have to commit to that extra time.

That is what I am asking you to commit to. 
The one hour is just simply never going to be enough. 
That is why I keep pushing you to pray every day. 
We want to be at 10 hours every week. 
That does not mean that you have to be at your desk 
praying for one hour a day. 
But you ought to be working towards something like that; 
and in the other hours, you ought to be working at being charitable,
giving your heart and soul away to someone else.
Why? Because that is what defines us. 
That tells us who we are because we are standing up for somebody. 
We are spending our time with them. 
And yes, we are spending our energy and who we are with them.  
That will make all the difference.

Today, the question is not what is in our wallet. 
But what's in our heart. 
What is our top priority? 
When we come to Eucharist, 
we come to renew ourselves in our number one priority, 
which is to follow Christ. 
It is easy for us to say it here but
when we walk outside those doors, we have to live it. 
And that is the work we spend 167 hour doing. 
And we need the help every day. 
And that is why I am asking us to find some time to say;
"This remains a priority for me."
What's in your heart?

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 15, 2023

How have I responded to God’s invitation to the Kingdom?

Matthew 22:1–14

[The Parable of the Wedding Feast]

Jesus again in reply spoke to them 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. He 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.”

Music Meditations

• Table of Plenty (by Dan Schutte; sung by John Michael Talbot) [YouTube]
• Eye Has Not Seen (by Marty Haugen) [YouTube]
• “The Lord Is My Shepherd” (John Rutter) [YouTube]
• “O God Beyond All Praising” (sung by OCP Session Choir) [YouTube]

Opening Prayer

From The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius: A Literal Translation and a Contemporary Reading, by David Fleming, S.J.:

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding and my entire will—all that I have and all that I call my own. You have given it all to me. To you Lord, I return it. Everything is yours; do with it what you will. Give me only your love and your grace. That is enough for me. (p.141)

Companions for the Journey

By Daniel Harrington, S.J, from “America”, the national Jesuit magazine:

In biblical times when ancient Israelites tried to imagine what the fullness of God’s kingdom would be like, one of their favorite images was a banquet. Today’s passage from Isaiah 25 provides a good example. The prophet pictures God’s kingdom as a grand banquet with “a feast of rich food and choice wines.” In a society in which such food and drink were in short supply, the image was powerful. The one who supplies this extraordinary meal is “the Lord of hosts,” and it is open to “all peoples.” It takes place on “this mountain,” most likely the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, which itself was an image of God’s dwelling place. At this banquet God will destroy death, end all suffering and bring about salvation. At this banquet the hopes of God’s people will be fulfilled.

Psalm 23 (“The Lord is my shepherd”) is most famous for its pastoral imagery of God’s care for us, leading us through the dark and dangerous places in our lives. The second half of the psalm, however, shifts the imagery and portrays God as the host at a lavish banquet. In the ancient Near East the two images—shepherd and host—were often applied to kings. Psalm 23 uses them to describe God as the king of kings and lord of lords.

The third banquet image in this Sunday’s readings, the parable of the royal banquet in Matthew 22, develops the imagery further to make two important points about God’s kingdom. We have to accept the invitation to the banquet, and we have to behave in an appropriate manner when we are allowed in.

In Matthew’s version of the parable, the invitation is to a royal wedding feast for a king’s son. Most people invited to such a banquet would feel honored and make every effort to attend. What is peculiar in this case is that those initially invited (the “A list” guests) refuse to come. They do not even bother to give good excuses, and they proceed to abuse and mistreat those who were sent to deliver the invitation. We know from the start that this parable concerns the kingdom of heaven. In what is a kind of allegory, the king is God, the servants are the prophets, and the ones refusing their invitation are those who reject Jesus’ invitation to enter God’s kingdom. The point of the first part of the banquet parable is that if you hope to participate in God’s kingdom, you must first accept the invitation. In Matthew’s context, the king’s harsh treatment of the city (“the king was enraged and sent his troops”) alludes to the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple by the Romans in A.D. 70. And the rejection of the invitation by the “A list” people (like the scribes and Pharisees) opens up the banquet guests to include marginal persons (like tax collectors and sinners) and eventually even Gentiles.

The second part of the parable (which may well have once been a separate parable) insists that it is not enough merely to gain entrance to the banquet hall. Once there, you must behave in an appropriate manner. What if you had been invited to the White House for dinner and arrived in clothes that you normally use for yard work or painting? You would probably be asked to leave. The point is that having been admitted to God’s kingdom by faith and baptism, we will be expected to act in ways that befit who we have become “in Christ.”

The Eucharist we celebrate as the sacrament of ongoing Christian life stands in the biblical banquet tradition. It is the banquet of God’s Son and points toward fullness of life in God’s kingdom. But it is not enough simply to show up. Rather, we need to participate actively, let the mystery of the Eucharist shape our identity, and we must act appropriately in our everyday lives.

Further reading:

• Some Thoughts on the Parable of the Wedding Feast and Parabolic Literature >>
• Reflection on Matthew 22:1-14 from Lectio Divina 2020 >>
• Reflection on Matthew 22:1-14 from “Living Space” >>

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

Come to the feast

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

• Did you ever attend something and feel horribly out of place? How did you react?
• Like those from the main roads invited to the feast, our church is also a mixture of the “bad and good alike” Do you see any examples of this?
• Are there people with whom you would rather not associate, or in Matthew’s words rather not have certain people “be at the table”? Who are they?
• Have I ever been too busy to stop what I was doing to answer the invitation from Jesus?
  Have I ever not wanted to have my life or my plans disrupted by an invitation from Jesus?
  Has my response to Jesus been on my time or on God’s time?
• Have there been instances since the time of Jesus which messengers of the Lord were mistreated when they went in person to extend an invitation to the kingdom of God?
• When you hear in this story that the king sends his messengers to the crossroads to accept people of all types, what does that tell you about God?
• Have I ever made judgements about the worthiness of certain people to be part of my religious experience (They don’t dress properly, they do not act piously enough, they seem to be having too much fun, they aren’t serious enough about the whole business of being a religious person)?
• How do I prepare for God’s banquet?
• By Jude Sciliano, O.P.:
  How can I welcome others here to celebrate as an invited “guest” to the wedding feast?
• What does it mean to you that someone was thrown out of the celebration for not being properly clothed?
• What do you think the “wedding garment” stands for in this story?
• In spiritual or moral terms, what does it mean to be “properly clothed”?
  Does it refer to holding back on our commitment?
  Does it mean paying lip service but not committing (“their hearts are far from me”)?
  What do I need to do to be “properly attired” for God’s banquet?
• Saying yes to the invitation of God involves a commitment on our part to respond in an appropriate way. How often have people bragged about their inclusion in God’s invitation without reflecting on what might be required of them?
• “Many are called, but few are chosen”. What does that mean for you?
  Do you believe this?
  Do you think you are “chosen” and others are not?
• Were there any details in this parable that disturbed you?
• From the website “Lectio Divina”:
  Who are the persons who are normally invited to our feasts?
  Why?
  Who are the people who are not invited to our feasts?
  Why?
  What are the reasons which today prevent many people from participation in society and in the Church?
  What are some of the excuses that people offer to exclude themselves from the duty to participate in the community?
  Are those excuses valid?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

Read the gospel story again, then imagine that the wedding is taking place in modern times, with all the extravagance, pomp, money and planning that goes into today’s weddings. Who would be inviting the guests to the wedding? Imagine that you are a guest who does not wish to attend the wedding. What would possibly be your reason for feeling this way (too busy, don’t really know or like the bride and groom, fancy parties are not your thing, etc)? What excuse would you give for not attending? Think of a time when you were invited to something and made up excuses so that you wouldn’t have to go. Do you think the person issuing the invitation saw through your excuses? How did you feel?

Now imagine that it is a wedding of a very famous person, and for some reason, you are invited at the last minute to attend. What would be your reaction? What if you don’t have the proper attire for a Black Tie Wedding in Beverley Hills? Would you go anyway or would you stay at home? Who are the others at this fancy wedding? Are they “worthy” to be included in this group of the rich and famous? Have you ever been in a situation in which you felt that certain people should have been left off the guest list? Or have you ever felt out of place because of your lack of money, social skills or importance? How did you handle it?

Now imagine that the wedding feast has been put together by Jesus. Would any of your actions or reactions change? Why? Who is welcome at the Lord’s table, and what do we have to do in order to be welcomed?

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

Think of the cost of many of today’s weddings. Is it justified to spend multiple thousands of dollars on one party, many thousands on a wedding dress, flowers, and videographer, make-up artists, bands, and other extravagances when people are doing without? The average cost of a wedding in this country is almost $40000! This following is excerpted from Justice Notes in a past issue of “First Impressions”:

Many young couples struggle to make their wedding plans more like the Gospel “kingdom”. They want their wedding to reflect their own generosity and broad experience of the needs of the world. They know that wedding planning is big business and want to plan an event which truly reflects who they are and does not leave them in debt for years. Here is another idea: The parish resource, At Home with the Word, references the I Do Foundation, a non-profit agency which offers couples a variety of ways to share part of their wedding spending with charities. I Do Foundation links engaged couples with a host of charitable giving options at their wedding, from its gift registry to invitations and wedding favors. The I Do Foundation was created in 2002 by a group of nonprofit leaders dedicated to developing new avenues of support for charitable organizations. The I Do Foundation’s mission is to help engaged couples bring a charitable focus to their marriage. It provides a variety of donation options and wedding services to help engaged couples make charitable giving a part of their wedding. The I Do Foundation supports many nonprofit organizations that are actively striving to make our communities and society more equitable and just. The I Do Foundation has made a special commitment to support organizations working for low-income and underserved populations. In addition to its recommended partners, the I Do Foundation also donates to organizations suggested by couples.

What you can do:

If you or someone you know is planning a wedding, let them know about the I Do Foundation. It will help make the wedding a “kingdom” celebration.

(Submitted by Anne and Bill Werdel, from the parish bulletin of Sacred Heart Cathedral, Raleigh, NC)

Poetic Reflection:

Father Ed Ingebretzen, S.J. sees the Eucharistic banquet as our “feast of the kingdom” here on earth. Do you agree?
What of yourself do you bring to the Eucharistic table?

"Gather the People"

What return can we make
for all the Lord has done in our lives?
We bring bread, wine, our clay dishes
and our clay feet
to this altar
and we pray that we may here
make a beginning—
that somehow in our days
we can begin to see the promises
the Lord has made us.

The promises do not always
glow with obvious light, or
overwhelm us by their obvious truth.
No matter what anyone says,
it is difficult to understand an invisible God
and belief is not always
the easy way out.

So we gather the people
and we tell the story again
and we break the bread
and in the memory of the one
who saves us,
we eat and drink
and we pray and we believe.

We gather, we pray, we eat.
These things are for human beings.
God has no need of them.
Yet he himself gathered the people,
prayed, broke bread
and gave it to his friends.

And so the invisible God became
visible
and lives with us.

—from Psalms of the Still Country

Closing Prayer

Lord, you have invited me to your table of love. I have often ignored that invitation or forgot about it because of life’s distractions. Sometimes when I have shown up, my heart was not in the enterprise, and my presence was sloppy, at best. Do not stop inviting me because of my inadequate responses, Lord. Keep me open to your words of invitation and open to the changes in myself I must make to attend your feast.

Reflection on Matthew 22:1-14 from “Living Space”

In our readings we have jumped from chapter 20 to chapter 22 and read another Kingdom parable not unrelated to yesterday’s about the workers in the vineyard.

Yesterday it was a question of resentment at God’s generosity to latecomers in his kingdom. Today it is rather sadness over the Jewish leaders’ refusal to accept Jesus as Messiah and Lord. The parable is a kind of potted history and is more like an allegory than a parable.

The king (God) gives a wedding banquet (the happiness of the Messianic age) for his son (Jesus the Messiah). But when he invites people (the Jews) to attend, they refuse to come and make all kinds of excuses. Others actually attack the king’s servants and messengers (the prophets and the early Christian evangelizers).

The king becomes angry and “sent his army to destroy those murderers and burn their city”. Surely a reference to the Roman army under the emperor Titus which sacked and destroyed Jerusalem in AD 70. The Temple, the heart of Judaism, was also destroyed and plundered and has never since been rebuilt. Today an Islamic mosque stands on the site.

Because the invited guests will not come, the servants (the Jewish disciples of Jesus) are instructed to go out and bring in anyone they can find. “They rounded up everyone they met, bad as well as good.” All are called – both the good and sinful.

The climax of the story at first seems somewhat unfair. People have been pulled in from highways and byways and now one is condemned for not wearing a wedding garment! But the parable has in fact moved to the final judgement. In fact, Matthew may be combining what were two original parables into one.

The wedding garment clearly stands for faith and baptism combined with a lived out commitment to the Gospel, something necessary to be accepted into the eternal happiness of the Kingdom.

As Jesus says at the end, “Many are called, but few are chosen.” Many were called and invited to attend the banquet. But more than that was expected of them. They had to answer the call by saying an unqualified Yes to Jesus. Being baptized and having the label ‘Christian’ or ‘Catholic’ is not enough.

We have also to live out in our lives and relationships what we claim to believe in.