Comments Off on Homily – Fr. Anton – 10/15/23 – “Our Father has invited us home, to an Eternal Feast”
Homily – Fr. Anton – 10/15/23 – “Our Father has invited us home, to an Eternal Feast”
The Gospel Matt 22:1-14
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.”
After the Gospel:
Right up there on Lake Erie sits Cleveland, Ohio. A river runs through it, The Cuyahoga River, separating the East Side from the West Side.
When Clevelanders meet, they wanna know: “You from the East side or the West side?”
Fr. Alan is from the East Side, Brother Joseph and I are West-siders.
Cleveland jokes, however, apply to both sides.
Like the time the Cuyahoga River caught on fire.
1969 – oil and chemical slicks on the river ignited, exposing Lake Erie’s pollution.
$50,000 damage. Late-night comedians cashed in on the river that caught on fire!
Then they elected a Polish mayor, Ralph Perk, and Polish jokes came back to life.
And it got worse.
First the river. Then the mayor’s hair caught on fire.
Mayor Perk was using a welder’s torch to open a convention of the Metals Society.
As he cut into a ceremonial metal bar, a spark flew up, his full head of hair caught fire,
thanks to a spray the barber had applied that morning.
An aide quenched the fire by repeatedly slapping the mayor’s head, as TV cameras caught him saying: “This job is more dangerous than I thought.”
Cleveland native Bob Hope dubbed Ralph Perk the “hottest mayor in the country.”
Of course, pictures and the story of the mayor’s singed head spread around the world.
And it got worse.
The Mayor’s wife, Lucille, famously turned down an invitation to the White House.
She turned down an invitation from First Lady Pat Nixon to a White House dinner.
It was her bowling night! Headlines throughout the country read: “Cleveland’s First Lady snubs Washington’s First Lady!” while comedians joked: “If you don’t want to go, just tell ‘em it’s your bowling night!”
Brothers and sisters,
Jesus has more in mind than a marriage feast, even one with the king inviting.
He’s talking about guests who were invited, but chose not to come,
Invited, not once, but twice. And twice they said: “No, I won’t go!”
He’s really talking about us,
We’re God’s children. Our place is in heaven.
God is calling us to salvation, something not to be taken lightly.
It’s a beautiful, precious, once-in-a-lifetime matter.
We’re all invited, the only way we can not be there is to say “No, I won’t go.”
God really wants us to be there! But He can never force us!
How many times has He invited us? Definitely more than twice!
We’ve all felt tugs of His grace, His love, His reaching out to us.
We’ve all tried to respond, with our spiritual self, which wants to make sure we’re in Heaven.
Yet it’s been stop-and-go. Because of our fleshly self.
Our spiritual self versus our fleshly self, that’s our human dilemma.
The world, the flesh and the devil causing friction, slowing us down, trying to sabotage and derail.
Which causes ongoing dissatisfaction within our soul.
We live a life summed up by a round-the-clock pursuit of happiness, we’re always reaching out for a “good” even if it’s only something disguised as good.
We’re constantly deciding what we value, what we value most.
We’re constantly trading up, exchanging something that’s good for something that’s better yet.
Which means we must get our priorities straight, know what’s essential, what demands attention.
Meaning we have to focus on what is truly THE MOST important. And make the right choices!
Augustine didn’t start out a saint, he lived by trial and error, he learned the hard way that only God can fill the void.
In the end he finally admitted: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” Most of us are still learning that, the hard way.
One man stands out because of his lack of a wedding garment, which is important.
At ancient Jewish Weddings, a wedding garment was provided when the guest entered.
They had handed him the proper garment, but he refused to put it on, he simply didn’t want to change! But Rules are rules. We all have to change, as St Paul reminded the Romans: we have to “put off sin, put on Christ,” put on behavior pleasing to God. We all have to change!
When confronted by the king the man had nothing to say. There really was nothing for him to say. He knew the consequences.
Which brings up a serious consideration … our actions have consequences.
We can pretend that our choices and actions don’t matter all that much, that everything is relative, trivial … it’s simply not true. We’re accountable for all our actions, for the choices we make. We’re responsible for the consequences, good or bad, and we’re responsible for taking steps to rectify any negative effects that have arisen, for taking steps to make things right, either apologizing, making amends, or offering to fix any damage caused.
And the ending! Who could have guessed it?
The king, sending his invitation out “into the highways,” to people from all walks of life, “both good and bad alike” it says, they all had opportunity to attend the marriage of his son and the festivities. Who would have predicted such an open invitation! People from everywhere given the opportunity to choose whether to come, or not, to the marriage feast.
One of our basic Christian teachings is that God desires all of us to be saved! No one is too good for heaven, no one is bad enough not to be invited!
Brothers and sisters,
We cannot choose the city where we’re born,
we cannot control many of life’s happenings,
but one thing we’re accountable for … our salvation.
Our Father has invited us home, to an Eternal Feast.
He wants us – He expects us – to be there.
The Banquet is ready.
He sent Jesus to invite us.
Each of us has been called, each of us has been chosen! It’s our decision!
The only way we can not be there is to say “No, I won’t go.”
Heaven’s Feast, however, will still take place, regardless of who’s not attending.
It will go on, with or without us! The music will never stop.