This Sunday the liturgy through the prophet Isaiah and the evangelist Matthew presents to us two very suggestive images of the Kingdom of God.
Paul continues his correspondence with the community of Philippi, and lets them know his gratefulness for their love and concern for him.
FIRST READING FROM THE PROPHET ISAIAH 25:6-10
The reading is again from the prophet Isaiah of Jerusalem, who prophesized during the VIII century B.C. The tone of the oracles changes now with the description of the banquet. On mount Zion God o Will offer a banquet of rich food and delicate wines to the peoples, not only the people of Israel but to all the peoples. The wine is the symbol of joy, happiness, celebration.
o The Lord will destoy the veil that covers the peoples. With the veil they covered the deceased. On mentioning the veil, the prophet might be speaking that death will be no more. Or the veil may symbolize ignorance with respect to God, ignorance which leads to death. Thus
§ The Lord will destroy death for ever
§ He will wipe out all tears, all suffering. This has the same meaning as the wine.
§ The presence of God “Look at our God…” is cause for joy and source of life for all.
o God has saved us, this is the cause of the banquet, of the joy and of the celebration.
o The hand, the power, the protection and the tenderness of God will rest on this mountain, over Jerusalem, over his people.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM – 23:1-3,3-4,5.6.
Psalm 23 is a psalm of trust, security, peace and calm. It has two parts:
o The first part with images taken from the life of shepherds and
o A second part with images of a banquet.
The “house of the Lord” is the Temple.
The dark valley may signify the enemies
But the shepherd is there, is leading, there is nothing to be afraid of.
The shepherd’s rod and staff are transformed into love and kindness.
The psalmist is satisfied with this intimate relationship with the Lord, with Yahweh.
The author of the psalm describes his present situation of great intimacy with God, but he knows that this will last forever.
Let us pray the psalm:
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.
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.
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.
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.
I SHALL LIVE IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE
SECOND READING – PHILIPPIANS 4:12-14, 19-20
Ø This fragment is from the last verses of the letter of Paul to the community of Philippi.
Ø Paul had begun his missionary work in Europe in the city of Philippi, see Acts 16:9-10
Ø The fact that Paul accepts the gift from the community of Philippi tells us about his friendship and great love for them.
Ø Paul tells us about his financial Independence for the sake of the gospel.
o He has learned to be in need
o And how to have an abundance
o This has given him the strength to endure all the hardships he has suffered.
Ø He acknowledges the kindness of the community in willing to share in his sufferings.
Ø The One who will reward them is the Lord, and he will do it in his magnificent way.
Ø Glory to God for ever.
GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 22:1-14.
This is the third parable that Jesus addresses to the leaders of his people. We have read two of them already: the parable of the two sons and the parable of the vineyard. Today the Lord presents to us a very suggestive image of the Kingdom: the wedding banquet of the king’s son.
« With this parable Matthew wants to teach his community what the kingdom is.
« He begins by telling us that the King has sent his servants to call those invited for the wedding of his son.
« They do not want to come, each one goes to his own business. Some even insult the servants and some kill them. This is a clear reference to the prophets God sent to Israel.
« Afterwards the King send his servants to the roads to invite all to the wedding banquet, they invite the poor, the marginalized, all those that were excluded before. They are all invited to enter into the banquet room.
« From verse 11 the parable changes in tone. Now the king himself enters to greet the guests. He sees one not properly dressed, and he orders to take him out from the banquet.
« Matthew ends the parable saying: the invited are many, the elect are few
« What is the meaning of the parable?
o To describe the kingdom we are presented with the image of a banquet. Banquets are occasions to share with others, to rejoice, to be happy, to eat good food and to drink abundantly fine wines. Moments which are very dear to the human heart.
o Besides being a banquet, it is a wedding banquet of the king’s son. The kingdom, the salvation is represented in the Bible as a wedding between God and his people; between Christ and his new people, the Church.
o The participation in the banquet is completely free, it is given to all, to those first invited and who excluded themselves from the banquet, and to those invited later. The invitation, comes from God.
o Are we sometimes of those who exclude themselves from the banquet? What is the invitation that God makes to me now?
o Among those invited later, the King finds one not properly dressed. We might be surprised of the king’s reaction since, it is normal that a homeless comes not properly dressed. But in that time, everyone invited if not properly dressed would have been given a proper garment to enter into the celebration. Now this man does not wear it, it seems that what the evangelist is telling us, is that he refused to wear it or neglected to put it on. But there is another explanation, Matthew knows his community, and he knows that they need to commit themselves to live according to the baptism they have received.
§ As we read the gospel of Matthew we realize that his community was well organized, it was already a church
§ With a leadership, with sacraments. A community which gathers in prayer and acknowledges the presence of the Lord it its midst. A community that recognizes the presences of the Lord in the poor and marginalized.
§ Matthew is telling his community that it is not enough to be baptized, to belong to the community in order to enter into the Kingdom. We need the wedding dress, which is the symbol of the grace of the life of God given to us freely by God. We need to take care of this “dress” until we will be called by the Lord.
§ God has the initiative, he is the only one who can give us this “dress”, he is the only one who can invite us, but afterwards what we do with the invitation in with the “garment” is in our hands, it depends on our answer to the invitation. The consequences of our response are: to be in the kingdom or to be out of the kingdom.
§ Along the journey of our life the Lord will continue to invite and call us, he will give us the strength to answer his call, but he respects our freedom.
§ When we were baptized we received a white garment, as the priest put it on us he said the following words:
(name of the baptized) you are a new creation, and you have been clothed with Christ. Receive this white garment and keep it without stain until the day you will be called by the Lord Jesus Christ, to have eternal life. AMEN.
§ At the funeral before the casket is introduced into the Church, a white cloth is put over the casket and the priest says some words which remind us of the words at our baptism. He invites the deceased person to go to the presence of her or his God, his Lord and his Redeemer wearing the white garment received at baptism.
§ If during the journey of our life our garment becomes soiled or torn the Lord has given us another sacrament to help us, the sacrament of reconciliation or confession.
o The parable ends with the words: many are called, few are chosen. The number of the chosen ones will depend on the personal response of each person to the grace received without cost. Grace means exactly that: something received without cost.
PRAYER
1. Let us listen to a song.
2. We will have silent prayer for 15 mintues. We may meditate on the words of the responsorial psalm, or any one of the readings. We may go before the Most Holy Sacrament in the Chapel, or we may stay here, or go to the church.
3. After 15 minutes we return here, we listen to another song and recite the following prayer to Mary.
Let us implore for this great undertaking the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church and Queen of the Apostles. May she, who in the Upper Room supported the prayers of the Apostolic College, obtain for us the grace never to fail in the task of love which Christ has entrusted to us. As a witness to true life, Mary ''shines forth for the pilgrim people of God'' – and in a particular way for us, their pastors – ''as a sign of sure hope and comfort, until the day of the Lord arrives'' (Apostolic Exhortation of John Paul II “Pastores Gregis” on the mission of bishops.)
CLARETIAN CORNER
Tell the Bishops, to whom I have entrusted my flock, and have chosen for great things, that to banish so much impiety from the earth, the only thing necessary is their sanctification. They will reach this with great perfection, measuring their deeds with those of the Apostles. What His Divine Majesty wants most in these unfortunate final times is the sanctification of the people in charge of his service. (María Antonia París, Foundress of the Religious of Mary Immaculate Claretian Missionary Sisters. Plan for the Renewal of the Church, 44.)
The pastor will work with all his zeal for the salvation of his neighbors, and he will go first with his example, practicing the virtues of humility, meekness, chastity, patience, charity, and obedience, without complaining of the dispositions of his prelate. He will be diligent and solicitous to catechize, preach, hear confessions and giving the other sacraments. When he knows about someone living in mortal sin, he will try all the means prudence might suggest him to help that person come out from his state of sin. Let him remember the words he will hear from Jesus on his last day “come good and faithful servant…” (St. Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Religious of Mary Immaculate Claretian Missionary Sisters. Notes of a Plan to Keep the Beauty of the Church and to Preserve her.)
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