Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and the 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..."
He spoke in parables. The beauty of parables is that they never seem to get outdated. Everyone can relate to them, and they will be just as relevant today as they were two thousand years ago and will be two thousand years from now.
A feast made for a king. The King had it all planned out. I'm gonna throw a banquet for my son and all the invited guests will attend. But they didn't, and he was totally wrong.
Missing the boat. Are you missing the boat. That is, are you missing the point of life? In today's Gospel passage, we read how some people ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest laid hold of the king's servants and mistreated them!
Wow! Are you too busy for Church? Are you too busy to pray? Have you become so angry, bitter and resentful of God and religion (organized religion) that you openly mock them and ridicule those who hold fast to them?
The Lord reaches out to us all the time. Do you reach out as well? Or do you push back?
Here I am, Lord. From the moment we were conceived, the Lord sent out an open invitation: "Come follow me" (cf. Mt. 4:19). "Blessed the man who makes the Lord his trust.; who turns not to idolatry or to those who stray after falsehood."
These falsehoods are the most common mistakes we could ever make in our lives. They are the most futile attempts at finding meaning in our lives. By now we should know them and be working diligently to prevent them from falling into our children's hearts and minds.
What are they? Here are the most prevalent ones. (1) To trust more in men than in God; (2) To win (be successful) at all cost and above God's Commandments; (3) To attempt to find meaning through work rather than service; (4) To strive for pleasure instead of virtue; (5) To replace selflessness with selfishness; love with sex; and family with friends.
Be careful what you pray for. In the Book of Judges, we read how Jephthah prayed to God for victory over his enemies. Victory was so important to him that he made a weird vow: "If you deliver the Ammonites into my hands... then whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in triumph shall belong to the Lord. I shall offer him up as a burnt offering" (cf. Judges 11:29-39c).
His daughter, his only daughter was the first one to come greet him. He couldn't believe it! But what kind of person would make such a silly vow in the first place? Maybe someone who valued victory over life?
Today is the feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mary is beautiful because she placed God's love above her own loves, and God's Commandments above her very own dreams. It is her fidelity to God that makes her so beautiful. But what makes Mary Queen of the Universe and of the Apostles is that she placed herself at the service of the Lord; that is, at the feet of her Son; at the foot of the Cross.
The salvation of our enemies is far more important than their destruction. This is victory. This is true victory.
NEW: You can now hear my Sunday homilies by clicking on the link "Sunday homilies - at All Saints" found on the right-hand side of this blog.
Fr. Alfonse,
ReplyDeleteI'm super excited to be able to listen to your Sunday homilies! :)
Thank you for adding this feature.
Blessings,
Rosa
Fr. Alphonse,
ReplyDeletePlease know that we, your faithful blog followers, don't take you for granted! Your meditations are a gift - helping to better understand the scriptures and challenging us to be better Christians and Catholics. If you ever wonder if all of your efforts are worth it, I can say with certainty YES!! Your blogs are frequently topics of conversation and true discussion. We are striving to enter the narrow gate and you are supporting, guiding and loving us more than you know! God bless you always! You are in my prayers every day!