First Sunday in Advent – Year B - Nov 27, 2011

After 8 years work on the part of Bishops and experts from the US, Canada, England, Ireland, India, Australia and English speaking African countries, we have a new English translation of the Roman Missal.

When Latin was the language in which the Mass was celebrated in every part of the Catholic world in the Latin rite, unity in faith and worship was not an issue. But since the celebration of Mass in the vernacular was allowed, things seemed to go wrong with the experiment. The Bishops were concerned about the accuracy of the various translations of the Roman Missal.

And so every translation in use over the past 40 years was subjected to a thorough reevaluation to ensure fidelity to the original Latin Text of the Roman Missal.

For all the English-speaking Latin Catholic faithful, the new missal is a challenge that demands our time, our practice and our patience.  We need to move on.

Today we start a new liturgical year. This is the First Sunday of Advent.

            In today's Gospel there is a short little parable. The parable tells us about a householder who had a number of servants.

Once, before he left on a trip abroad, The Master of the household called all of his servants together and gave each of them a job to do.

He urged them all to be responsible saying, 'When I return I want to find you awake.'

The Master especially sin-gled out the doorkeeper for a special warning.

Now, Christ's story ends there with that warning ringing in our ears.

But let’s take that story a little further and let’s concentrate on that same doorkeeper.

Probably the great-est danger facing that doorkeeper was not so much that he might fall asleep on the job, but that he might grow too accustomed to doing the job.

You see in the beginning he’s all excited about the job the Master gave him. In fact, he feels honoured that his Boss has placed so much trust in him.

He loves his new uniform. Whenever he puts it on he feels like he is somebody special.

He is very conscientious about doing a good job and for the longest time that’s exactly what he does – a good job, in fact a very good job.

But time goes by. Opening and closing doors can get very monoto-nous. Pretty soon the novelty of it all wears off. Slowly but surely the dust of habit, of doing the same old job over and over again begins to accumu-late on him and his world.

A deadly routine takes over. He is still responsible, still unfailingly at his post. But now he is merely going through the motions.

The initial love and enthusiasm have evaporated. His heart is no longer in it.

When the Master returns he will no doubt still find him at his post opening and closing the doors like a robot. You see, doing things routinely over and over again without thinking gradually deadens us and in the end it snuffs out all life, all enthusiasm for the task at hand.

What happens in ordinary life also happens in our Christian life too.

We can get into a deadly routine with the result that we are Christians by habit only. We are Catholics in name only.

We are merely going through the motions. Sometimes we live as though we figure we will live forever.

We are taking part in rituals that have lost all freshness and meaning.  Isn’t it true that half the time we probably don’t even hear the Gospel anymore and we certainly can’t remember what the Gospel was once we leave the church, never mind the homily.

It just goes in one ear and out the other. The face of Christ has vanished from our sight.

So what's the solution?

The solution is that as human beings we need to be disturbed from time to time.

We need to be shaken out of our routine.

This is where Advent comes in. Advent issues a great 'wake up' call to us. It provides us with an opportunity to shake off the dust of habit, and to let Christ come alive in our lives once more.

Yes, the Lord IS coming. Yes, He WILL come to each of us at death, and to the world at the end of time.

Yet, somehow that fact doesn’t seem to register with most of us.

The point is that even though we don't know the day or the hour of His com-ing, we live our lives as though He never will come. As if we will be treated differently than others. Yet, we see the end of this life come every day to our acquaintances, to our friends and even to relatives of ours.

Some day it will be our turn.  It’s not that we should live our lives in morbid fear of death – after all Jesus said “Be not afraid. I go before you always. Come follow me”.  

But we do need to realize that there is a judge and we will appear before Him and will have to give an account of how we lived our lives, how we treated our neighbour, what we did with the talents He gave us.

Basically it comes down to this. Did we love God with our whole heart, our whole soul and our whole mind? Did we love our neighbour as ourselves?

That will determine whether or not we are counted among the sheep or among the goats.

Any time is the wrong time for the unfaithful servant. But any time is the right time for the faithful servant.

The faithful servant doesn't fear the Lord's coming; he welcomes it. For the faithful servant the time of the Lord’s coming will be a time of great joy. Are we faithful servants? Are we ready?

We have to be ready. How? By being alive, alert, responsible servants of the Lord and of one another.

Advent is a time of waiting, longing and begging. It is a time of conversion. It is a time for all of us to pray “Maranatha….. Come, Lord Jesus.

The Lord be with you and with your spirit.      Amen.

Deacon Bernie Ouellette

Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time – A

Proverbs 31, 10-13.19-20.30-31; Psalm 128; 1 Thessalonians 5, 1-6; Matthew 25, 14-30

In today's Gospel Jesus is presenting us the parable of the talents. It challenges us to ask the question of what we are doing with our lives that God has given us as a talent, a treasure. But we can see many other parallels and similarities between this parable and our life. We are constantly getting so many talents and treasures, we are showered by God with so many graces and gifts that sometimes we don't even recognize them as a grace, we rather see them as our rights and privileges.

Let us take for example of a wonderful gift of the Eucharist. Do I realize that it is a GIFT, a TALENT, and a TREASURE given to us by God for our salvation? What do I do with this treasure, what do I do with the gift of the Liturgy, the Holy Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Christ? How often do I rather prefer to HIDE THIS TREASURE? How often do our faithful Catholics are like the last one among the servants coming to the King, burying the treasure of the Eucharist, the gift of the Sunday Mass in the worries and preoccupations of every day’s life?

Even the present renewal of the English Missal could be -for us- a treasure, a wonderful opportunity of a deeper and more profound understanding of the Gift of the Eucharist, or we can miss once more this opportunity and burry the treasure in the ground, pretending that we didn't get anything special, that it is our right, our entitlement and take it as granted.

Actually there are two possible methods or tactics of approaching the new translation of the English Missal and the renewal of our postures and gestures during the Mass:

1.     I can pretend that it is a worthless and absolutely unnecessary or even useless going backward to the so called "pre-Vatican" theology, I can be frustrated or disappointed, I can try to resist or to disagree, OR

2.     I can try to understand, to deepen and develop my understanding and my knowledge of the Eucharist, the precious gift, the talent given to the Church for the salvation of her members.

Let us take for example the new wording of the Consecration of the Blood of Christ. Why this "new" which is absolutely not new (!!!), so called exclusive language.

Why for "many" and not for "all"?

Now the priest says:

“This is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and FOR ALL so that sins may be forgiven.”

Beginning Nov. 27 he will say:

“For this is the chalice of my Blood, the Blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and FOR MANY for the forgiveness of sins”

Here’s why:

In the Sacred Liturgy, there is no moment more important or more filled with grace than when the priest repeats Christ’s words, first spoken at the Last Supper, and the bread and wine become Christ’s Body and Blood.

For the past 40 years, English-speaking Catholics have heard those words of consecration, when spoken over the cup, translated as: “Take this, all of you, and drink from it: This is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven. Do this in memory of me.”

Most of those changes won’t raise any eyebrows. Chalice, rather than cup (cup is too vernacular it is the mug, the goblet, etc.) the poured, rather than shed. Eternal, rather than everlasting. Each has its significance, and together they give a more reverent tone to the prayer, but none are controversial or puzzling. The same can’t be said, however, of the phrase, “for you and for MANY.”

At first hearing, it sounds as if the Church is saying that Christ didn’t die for everyone, that there’s some special class of individuals who aren’t of “salvation-grade quality”. But that can’t be what the Church actually means. Or is it?

The answer is no ... and yes. Christ did die for everyone. He offers salvation to all. He invites ALL. But not everyone accepts what he offers. Not everyone accepts the invitation. That’s what the phrase “for you and for MANY” reminds us. Jesus Christ is proposing His redemptive death and resurrection to all, but because of the human freedom He is not forcing anybody to accept His proposal, and so … He is dying only for those who in their freedom accepted this sacrifice.

Otherwise how He can die for those who a stubbornly rejecting, neglecting or denying Him and His redemptive death? Is it not against the fundamental gift freedom? Why by using the human translation which is “more inclusive” namely “ALL” we are forcing those who won’t like to be included into the Redemptive Sacrifice of Christ? The atheists like: Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins are irritated and frustrated by this kind of “all including catholic terrorism”. And that’s what the original Latin says: PRO MULTIS and not FOR ALL.

In Latin, the phrase used is "QUI PRO VOBIS ET PRO MULTIS", which literally means “for you and for many,” or “for you and the many.” “The many” can mean the same thing as “all,” but traditionally that’s not how the phrase has been interpreted, not by Catholics and not by Protestants who continue to use the words “for many” in their own communion services.

In part, “for many” because the passage is a translation of the words Jesus spoke at the Last Supper, words which refer to a passage from Isaiah 53 about the suffering servant who would make many righteous.

(Mt 26,28: Mk 14,24)

( ²⁴και ειπεν αυτοις τουτο εστιν το αιμα μου το της καινης διαθηκης το περι πολλων εκχυνομενον)

Kai eipen autois touto estin to aima mon to tes kainos diathekes to peri pollon ekshunomenon

²⁴ “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them".

Do we pretend that Jesus didn’t know what He was saying using the word: “peri pollon” - for many and not for ALL?

It’s also been translated as “many” rather than “all,” because of Jesus’ own words about heaven and hell in Matthew 7:14: “How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.”

On a spring day outside Jerusalem, the Second Person of the Trinity saved every member of the human race, potentially. It’s ‘potentially’ because not everyone will be saved. The Lord says that in the Gospel. Again, however, that’s not to say that Jesus doesn’t want to save everyone. He does. But, in order to receive salvation, something on our part needs to happen. We don’t earn our salvation, but we need to embrace it and live it.

Our decisions have consequences. Our crucifixes have Christ’s arms spread wide to show that salvation is for the many. But if we eliminate human choice, then morality has no meaning or content, i.e., one can do whatever one pleases and just presume God will forgive all offenses without repentance. But that’s not how it works, and presumption is a sin against the Holy Spirit.”

By returning to the traditional “FOR YOU AND FOR MANY,” the Church asks us to remember that:

·        The words remind us, that there is no such thing as automatic salvation. Just because someone poured water on your head 50 or even 70 years ago doesn’t mean you’re saved!

·        The language, these words, also force us to confront our own sins which are the real sins causing the death of Christ on the cross,

·        They’re meant to be a call to an examination of conscience. At every given celebration of the Mass, they’re an invitation to ask, ‘Where do I stand? I recognize Christ has died, so what have I done to accept it?’

·        What did I do with the gift, the treasure of Christ's Blood?

God is constantly giving us some talents, but it's up to us to use these talents, to accept them as a precious gift and not as our rights and privileges. It is up to each one of us individually to accept or to reject the Talent of the Eucharist, which is poured for all, but unhappily not all are accepting this gift. And this is why Jesus used the words:

"… this is the chalice of my Blood, the Blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and FOR MANY for the forgiveness of sins".

Some principal ideas concerning the new translation of the Mass

Some  principal  ideas  concerning  the  new  translation  of  the  Mass

Reasons for change:

·         The Mass is the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ; it is public worship and not a social meeting.

·         We are invited to participate in this Divine Sacrifice and liturgy. We do not come to be entertained but to be renewed.

·         The Liturgy of the Eucharist was given to the Church and not to any individual.

·         Each Sacrament has its own form and matter – as is with the Sacrament of the Eucharist,

·         Nobody can change anything on his own personal authority, (Vat. II)

·         The Mass is not about “feeling good” it is about “doing right”, following the instructions of Christ.

·         The Mass was instituted by Christ for our salvation not for our entertainment.

·         The words the Mass contains aren’t there for their psychological meaning or reason. They’re there because they mean something theologically, because they say something true and important about God, the world and the human condition.

·         Many of those words were first used in the Mass by the apostles, the saints and the Church Fathers. They were drawn from the scrolls of Hebrew Scripture and the written and oral tradition of the Church.

·         Indeed, some are the very words of Christ and we cannot alter them in a capricious way.

·         Others are the words of those who followed Him. Through the centuries, the faithful have given their lives to say those words. They’ve also given their lives to ensure that the right words were said.

For all these reasons and more, the words of the Mass matter. They matter a great deal. That’s why the forthcoming changes to the translation that English-speaking Catholics use in the Sacred Liturgy aren’t about theological quibbling (pedantry) or liturgical minutiae (niceties). It’s serious business … although serious business that takes a bit of time and study to understand.

So, what are some of the changes Catholics will encounter starting on Nov. 27, the first Sunday of Advent, that seem small but are actually quite significant?

The Lord be with you …

Now we say, “And also with you.”

Beginning Nov. 27, we’ll say, “And with your spirit.”

WHY

To start with, it’s accurate. In the original Latin, whenever the priest says to the people "Dominus vobiscum" (“The Lord be with you”), the people’s response is "Et cum spiritu tuo", literally “And with your spirit.”

The words of the Mass are there for a reason. And the response “And with your spirit” conveys something different than “And also with you".  The latter sounds like a cultural greeting, which was the point. The original translators wanted something that sounded more like everyday speech. But it can sound like the congregation is saying, ‘Right back at you, Father,’ or ‘You too.’”

Please notice that some priests went even further and instead of the liturgical "the Lord be with you" they were introducing a totally, not-liturgical, "Good morning (evening) everybody". This is an abuse.

And that’s not what the Latin phrase means. It’s not just another way of saying “hi” to the priest.

Rather, Et cum spiritu tuo is “a liturgical greeting given to the priest at four significant moments, when the priest is about to do something that, by virtue of Holy Orders, he has been ordained to do:

·         preside over the Mass,

·         proclaim the Gospel,

·         pray the Eucharistic prayers and

·         dismiss the congregation”

The congregation’s response is intended to remind the priest who he is, that he has been ontologically changed by ordination, and that it’s the spirit of Christ, to which his own spirit has been configured, which allows him to carry out those sacred tasks. It’s meant to be a reminder that what the priest is doing is not about him. It’s a reminder that this isn’t about Father and Father’s Mass. It’s about Father allowing Christ to act in him.”

Likewise, “And with your spirit” isn’t intended to suggest that the priest is any holier than his congregation. Rather, it “expresses a prayer that the ordained may be made worthy of the dignity of their divine calling.”

The response also reminds the laity of a thing or two. To start with, it reminds the congregation who the priest is.

·         He’s not just a representative of the community,

·         He’s not a liturgical animator,

·         He’s there and acting in the person of Christ, - “in Persona Christi”,

·         He is there as the ORDAINED MINISTER of Christ, and not acting as an individual, elected and designated by the community.

·         He makes present the Passion and Death of Christ Himself,

·         He acts in the Spirit of Christ and not on his own personal or private authority,

·         So we are greeting his spirit, the Spirit of Christ.

It also reminds the laity, that the priest is doing for them what they cannot do for themselves. Through the grace of the Holy Spirit he has been conformed to Christ and is therefore able to transform gifts of bread and wine into Christ’s Body and Blood.

Mass should be the Sacrifice of Christ …and, if it is not it is a sacrilege!!!

There is a second change emphasizing the same idea:

Until now, after the preparation of the gifts, the priest was inviting us to pray:

Pray, brethren, that our sacrifice

may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father.

Starting Nov. 27 the priest will say

Pray, brethren (brothers and sisters),

that my sacrifice and yours

may be acceptable to God,

the almighty Father.

Once again it is not to make a separation between  "me" and "you", but to remind us the this is not mine or yours, or our Sacrifice but the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and the priest pronouncing the words: " that my sacrifice and yours" is saying them  "in persona Christi".

*****************************************

THE SECOND IDEA:

Pro Multis

Now the priest says:

“This is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and FOR ALL so that sins may be forgiven.”

Beginning Nov. 27 he will say:

“For this is the chalice of my Blood, the Blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and FOR MANY for the forgiveness of sins.”

Here’s why: 

In the Sacred Liturgy, there is no moment more important or more filled with grace than when the priest repeats Christ’s words, first spoken at the Last Supper, and the bread and wine become Christ’s Body and Blood.

For the past 40 years, English-speaking Catholics have heard those words of consecration, when spoken over the cup, translated as: “Take this, all of you, and drink from it: This is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven. Do this in memory of me.”

Most of those changes won’t raise any eyebrows. Chalice, rather than cup (cup is too vernacular it is the mug, the goblet, etc.) the Poured, rather than shed. Eternal, rather than everlasting. Each has its significance, and together they give a more reverent tone to the prayer, but none are controversial or puzzling. The same can’t be said, however, of the phrase, “for you and for MANY.”

At first hearing, it sounds as if the Church is saying that Christ didn’t die for everyone, that there’s some special class of individuals who aren’t of “salvation-grade quality”. But that can’t be what the Church actually means. Or is it?

The answer is no ... and yes. Christ did die for everyone. He offers salvation to all. But not everyone accepts what he offers. That’s what the phrase “for you and for MANY” reminds us. And that’s what the original Latin says.

In Latin, the phrase used is "QUI PRO VOBIS ET PRO MULTIS", which literally means “for you and for many,” or “for you and the many.” “The many” can mean the same thing as “all,” but traditionally that’s not how the phrase has been interpreted, not by Catholics and not by Protestants who continue to use the words “for many” in their own communion services.

In part, “for many” because the passage is a translation of the words Jesus spoke at the Last Supper, words which refer to a passage from Isaiah 53 about the suffering servant who would make many righteous.

It’s also been translated as “many” rather than “all,” because of Jesus’ own words about heaven and hell in Matthew 7:14: “How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.”

On a spring day outside Jerusalem, the Second Person of the Trinity saved every member of the human race, potentially. It’s ‘potentially’ because not everyone will be saved. The Lord says that in the Gospel.

Again, however, that’s not to say that Jesus doesn’t want to save everyone. He does.

But, in order to receive salvation, something on our part needs to happen. We don’t earn our salvation, but we need to embrace it and live it.

Our decisions have consequences. We’re not Jansenists, whose crucifixes were long and narrow, signifying that only a few would be saved. Our crucifixes have Christ’s arms spread wide to show that salvation is for the many. But if we eliminate human choice, then morality has no meaning or content, i.e., one can do whatever one pleases and just presume God will forgive all offenses without repentance. But that’s not how it works, and presumption is a sin against the Holy Spirit.”

BY RETURNING TO THE TRADITIONAL “FOR YOU AND FOR MANY,” THE CHURCH ASKS US TO REMEMBER THAT:

·         The words remind us, that there is no such thing as automatic salvation. Just because someone poured water on your head 50 years ago doesn’t mean you’re saved!

·         The language, these words,  also force us to confront our own sins.

·         They’re meant to be a call to an examination of conscience. At every given celebration of the Mass, they’re an invitation to ask, ‘Where do I stand? I recognize Christ has died, so what have I done to accept it?’

And finally the third idea behind the return to original text

Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa, Mea Maxima Culpa

Presently,  we say:

“I confess to almighty God and to you my brothers and sisters that I have sinned through my own fault in my thoughts and in my deeds, in what I have done and what I have failed to do.”

Beginning Nov. 27, we’ll say:

“I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and what I have failed to do, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault.”

HERE’S WHY:

The new translation of the Roman Missal won’t just bring a change in words. It will also bring a change in tone, calling for greater humility from both the priest and the congregation.

Likewise, in the introduction to the penitential rite, the priest no longer calls upon the congregation to “acknowledge our failures,” but rather to “acknowledge our sins.”

To some, the changes might sound a bit like an invocation to breast beating, rather like the Church is calling congregants to indulge in some “good old-fashioned Catholic guilt”. But that’s not what’s happening.

As with the other changes, the new translation is just faithfully rendering what’s always been there in the original Latin. And what’s there isn’t there to make us think badly about ourselves. It’s there to make us think correctly about ourselves.

The words are intended to help us realize how grateful we should be. In spite of the fact that we’ve gravely sinned and have grievous faults, we have a God of mercy who died for us. We need to realize the gift that our salvation is.

We also need to realize that we all need that salvation.

In our current culture , many people, Catholics included, have an ‘I’m OK, you’re OK’ attitude’. But we’re not. We’re broken people in need of being fixed. We need God. We’re completely dependent on Him, and without him, we’re nothing. Unfortunately, most of us only remember that in times of great need. The language of the Mass tries to help us realize that in good times as well.

It also reminds us that God is not a vending machine for spiritual and material favours, dispensing grace at our command.

In the new translation, you hear the priest saying things such as, ‘humbly we beg you,’ ‘we beseech you,’ ‘be pleased to grant’. There’s less bossing, less ‘Lord do this,’ and more petitioning, more ‘Lord, grant this we humbly pray.’

That can sound like groveling or begging. But it’s not. It articulates the truth that we don’t dare just present a list of demands to God. We’re not engaged in commodity trading. Everything is a gift and only because God is gracious and merciful do we dare approach him, let alone receive the gift of a response.

In articulating that, the new translation does what the Mass is supposed to do:

It puts us in right relationship with God. It also reminds us who we are.

We are beggars before God. We are not His equals. He’s not “our buddy”. He is our Creator, and as His creatures we owe him adoration. We haven’t come to Mass to give orders, but to receive orders. The current texts have blocked that distinction.

All this matters, of course, because in the journey to holiness, humility is a must.

Humility involves real knowledge of self. Even the ancient pagan Greeks understood the importance of that. ‘Know thy-self,’ said the Delphic Oracle. Christians recognize humility as the first rung on the ladder to perfection. The final rung is charity, but the journey starts with humility. It’s where the path of perfection begins.

Generally speaking the background for the more faithful translation is

More praise for God.

Throughout the new translation, God is more fully and faithfully praised.

We stress the sacredness and holiness of the Eucharist.

We avoid the wrong "creativity" of some bold, self-confident and even arrogant priests of the past.

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29th Sunday in ordinary Time – September 16, 2011

"Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God." (Mt 22,21)

I don't know about you, but if I were forced to choose between Caesar and God, I know who I would choose. When I die, Caesar will not judge me. God will.

We have in our own day an abundance of conflicts between Church and state. Abortion, euthanasia, steam cell researches and biological experimentations, same sex unions … Is this a political matter or religious? If it's deemed political, many believe, the Church should have nothing to say. Attempts to muzzle God go back to the beginning of salvation history. The prophets were put to death for speaking God's truth long before the Pharisees and Herodians tried to entrap and silence Christ. He truth and lie are certainly not political but moral. And we cannot be silent.

" In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.”

The abortion issue, many say, is a political issue, and therefore a matter for Caesar alone. Men of God, it is said, should be silent. Human life, in fact, is a moral issue, and when the laws of men are immoral, attacking the laws of God and the sacredness of human life, than Godly men should shout from every rooftop, priests should preach from every pulpit, every believing man and woman should speak out and protest. "Render...to God the things that are God's." All human life is sacred, from the hands of the creator. "For Thou didst form my inward parts, Thou didst knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise Thee, for Thou art fearful and wonderful, wonderful are Thy works!" (Psalm 139) When Caesar's laws are an abomination before God, then it is Caesar who must change.

Whether opposing the culture of death or any tyranny of the political order, the Christian gives first allegiance to the laws of God. "The citizen is obliged in conscience not to follow the directives of civil authorities when they are contrary to the demands of the moral order, to the fundamental rights of persons or the teachings of the Gospel. Refusing obedience to civil authorities, when their demands are contrary to those of an upright conscience, finds its justification in the distinction between serving God and serving the political community." 'Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.' (Mt 22:21) 'We must obey God rather than men.' (Acts 5:29)

'When citizens are under the oppression of a public authority which oversteps its competence, they should still not refuse to give or to do what is objectively demanded of them by the common good; but it is legitimate for them to defend their own rights and those of their fellow citizens against the abuse of this authority within the limits of the natural law and the Law of the Gospel.' (Gaudium et spes, 74) (CCC 2242)

"Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God." (Mt 22,21)

28 Ordinary Time – A October 09, 2011
Isaiah 25, 6-10a; Psalm 23; Philippians 4, 12-14, 19-20; Matthew 21, 1-14

We see that in today's Gospel Jesus speaks about a king with a long list of people invited to a wedding banquet. The banquet is heaven - as our first reading makes clear: "a feast of rich foods and choice wines" where God "will remove the veil that veils all people...he will destroy death forever." Sadly the invited guests refuse to come. They have more important things on their mind. They even make fun of the king's messengers and mistreat them.
Don't you thing that it sounds familiar? What about the Eucharist and all our excuses and justifications, pretexts and apologies? We don't have time; we have something more important to do …

All are invited, but not all respond. It's hard for us to come to understand the fact that not everyone might be saved, not everyone might enter the Kindom of God. Yet that is the conclusion of today's parable: "Many are invited, but few are chosen."

I have to be honest. I do not like the idea that some might be excluded from heaven - especially when I consider that one of those people might be me. I am confident about God's love - but I am not so confident about myself. For that reason I ask: How could a person be excluded from heaven?

"Many are called." God's saving love embraces all of creation. But … "only few are chosen" … or rather should we say "only few have accepted the invitation". God is inviting everyone but is not forcing anybody. If you reject His invitation … don't be surprised that you will be not allowed to participate in the ETERNAL BANQUET.

Well, it is important to understand that heaven is a banquet. Everyone likes the general idea of a banquet, but regarding any specific banquet it depends on what is on the menu. Some people love oysters while others can hardly stand to look at the little mollusks. The same can be said about other foods. French eat "escargot" and Mexicans have a soup called "menudo." Escargots are ordinary garden snails and menudo is made from a cow's belly - tripe. A person has to be willing to try them in order to appreciate how delicious they might be.

Something similar applies to heaven. Not that it will make a difference whether we have a taste for oysters or tripe or snails. It will matter, however, if we have a taste for God. Even though we are made for God, in this life we have to develop a taste for God. It is easy to fill ourselves with other things - a kind of spiritual junk food. People often do not go to Mass because "it is boring." Well, a salad is boring in comparison to French Fries. But a person can cultivate a taste for salad - just like a person can develop a taste for God.

Hell is a self-made prison. A man builds his own hell out things such as anger, pornography, hurt feelings, vanity, false self-image and lies. They become his daily diet - and he loses (or never acquires) a taste for God. Heaven's banquet (which is nothing more and nothing less than God) holds no attraction for him - other things seem more compelling.

The "final judgment" is nothing more than
- that moment when our choice to love God is sealed by His eternal embrace of love in heaven,
- or when we face the consequences of our rejection of God's love by refusing to keep the commandments. Jesus teaches us, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments."

So, yes, Jesus shed his blood for all - and he invites all to the heavenly banquet. But not all accept the invitation. In a few weeks we will hear a more exact translation of Jesus' words: "My blood...poured out for many." We can be part of that joyful multitude. By prayer, by the sacraments we can each day increase our taste for God.

In the parable, those who were first invited to the banquet would be the people of ancient Israel, who often violated the covenant and resisted the prophets. At the time of Jesus, they found it impossible to let go of their traditions in order to make room for his revolutionary message.

Those brought in from the streets to fill the banquet hall would be the outsiders; including the Gentiles who, in many cases, gladly responded to Jesus' universal invitation. However, some of them too were unwilling to be fully converted and thus were lacking the proper "wedding garment” of unselfish love.

One of the most dangerous temptations for traditional Christians is an easy assumption that they have responded to God's invitation and are now comfortably seated at the banquet waiting for their final and inevitable heavenly reward. This temptation is so insidious because it really is based on the fact of faithful religious observance.

Jesus desires deeply that all be saved, and so he invites all to the banquet, but He yet preserves our freedom to reject Him. This is a great mystery, but the answer lies in God's love. True love preserves the freedom of the one loved, to either respond with authentic, free, Godly love, or to reject. But why did the king tell this one man he was improperly dressed? Why did he speak such harsh words: "Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth"?

Well, the wedding garment is also a symbol. It represents our new life in Christ. It represents the Sanctifying Grace. When we accepted God’s invitation we left the old life of sin and began to live a new life of love and goodness. It is as if we left off our old clothes and put on new ones. We always feel much better wearing new clothes. We know we look good and often that helps us to act better.

So what about this man who is found wearing his old clothes at the royal wedding? The cloths of sin and perversion? The king is angry and has him thrown out. He represents us when we sin.

In those days the tradition was that when a poor man was invited to a royal feast and he could not afford a festive garment then the king would provide him one. Are we not provided with new cloths, with the opportunity of making our lives new in the Sacrament of Reconciliation? So there was no excuse for this man to be without a wedding garment; that is surely why in the parable it says: the man was silent. He could give no reason because there was none.

We have to be very careful how do we prepare to participate in the Eucharistic Banquet.

see: homilies