Golden Jubilee of St. Maurice Parish—Ottawa, ON
Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year “A”)
At the start of this Mass, I thank the Companions of the Cross who have served you for more than twenty years and I greet Bishop Riesbeck, who today celebrates the anniversary of his priestly ordination.
We gather today to give thanks to God for the fifty years of this
parish community of St. Maurice. What a blessing this church and parish have
been to the residents of this part of Nepean, of the Archdiocese of Ottawa! In
recent years, in ways we cannot perceive, your perpetual adoration chapel has
been a blessing to the community and the whole Church.
Over these many years, you have been served by nine pastors, whose
years of service have varied between one and nine years; there have also been
fifteen curates and a number of priests-in-residence or weekend associates. God
has been with us throughout, bestowing graces through the sacraments,
particularly the Holy Eucharist and his healing mercy in the Sacrament of
Reconciliation.
In today’s second reading, St. Paul praised the Philippians for their
care of him in his moments of need. They had helped him both financially and
with their encouragement. The ups and downs of his life, Paul said, taught him
to live with little and with plenty. This relationship between Paul and the
Philippians points to the bond that unites priests and people: “In any and all
circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry.”
What was the key to Paul’s equanimity and what can possibly be our own
source of consolation? Paul said, “I can do all things through him [the Risen
Christ] who strengthens me.” You see, it is the Risen Lord Jesus Christ, still
marked with the prints of the nails in hands and feet—and the mark left by the
spear in his side—who greets you as I did at the beginning of Mass with the
greatest gift possible, “Peace be with you!”
“COME
TO THE WEDDING BANQUET”
[Texts: Isaiah 25.6–10 [Psalm 23];
Philippians 4.10–14, 19–20; Matthew 22.1–14]
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
On this Thanksgiving
weekend, the scriptural text from Isaiah speaks to us about feasting on “rich
food” and with “well-aged wines.” This is a biblical parallel to our turkey
with all the trimmings, pumpkin pie or other treats that will make up your
Thanksgiving Dinner.
In the other biblical
readings, the psalmist praises the Lord for anointing “my head with oil.” In
the Gospel, Jesus recounts the parable of a wedding banquet given by a king
“for his son.” God’s Word today also challenges us to be ready to attend the
great feast, which God will give in the end times.
Ancient
literature frequently used the image of a great banquet. The last book of the
Bible describes the “wedding feast of the Lamb.” This feast denotes Christ’s
victory over the enemies of God’s people (Revelation 19.1–21).
Similarly, the
Apocalypse of Isaiah (chapters 24–27) declared that at the end of time, God
would remove grief and mourning from people’s lives. Indeed, the Lord of hosts
would “swallow up death forever.”
These days, we
cannot help but reflect on elements in society that seek to hasten death and
mourning. Soon, the Supreme Court will hear proposals to allow euthanasia and
physician-assisted suicide. These cases oppose the Christian precepts on the
gospel of life from conception to natural death. Let us pray earnestly that the
Supreme Court justices will choose wisely the path of affirming life. May their
rulings encourage the Government of Canada to foster palliative care so that
people will not fear pain and suffering in their last days. Canadians near the
end of life should receive sound medical care and the consolation of family and
friends at their side.
As Christians, we
can stand on God’s biblical promises that a new life awaits us. We will be able
to echo the Scriptures as they say, “let us be glad and rejoice in God’s
salvation.” May God’s children joyfully partake in the “feast of rich food”
prepared “for all peoples.”
Today’s gospel
parable message is clearer when we understand that the social world in which
Jesus lived was highly stratified. The elite did not mix or dine with their
inferiors. It was common to invite people twice to a banquet. If the in-crowd
announced they’d be there, everybody would want to go. If the in-crowd stayed
away, so would everyone else, and they would make up trivial excuses.
In this story, those
dissatisfied with the wedding banquet arrangements showed their disapproval.
Worse, they shamed the king by murdering his slaves. It would be normal to
expect the king to avenge his honour.
But this king’s
wedding banquet reflected the “Kingdom of Heaven.” It went beyond the
conventions of the day. The king decided to invite new guests to the wedding
banquet—people decidedly different from the first ones he called: “those
invited were not worthy ... go to the main streets and invite everyone you find.”
If the parable is
seen as an allegory of salvation history, the first sets of slaves would be the
prophets. The final invitation to the wedding banquet would be Jesus’ ministry.
The last messengers would be his apostles.
Those summoned
are “both bad and good.” This reflects the mystery of the church, which
welcomes people others judge unworthy. For Jesus accepted “tax collectors and
sinners”—those on the margins, the outcast. With Jesus’ proclamation, God’s
messianic banquet becomes fully subscribed!
Now, a king who
invited poor people to his banquet may have supplied them with wedding
garments. So, the king, pleased that the banquet hall was full, went in to see
the guests his slaves had enlisted.
Amid his joy, he
was embarrassed by one individual who, strangely, had not donned a wedding
garment. The king, calling this man “Friend,” asked how he could have acted in
this way. The man remained speechless. Then the king called for his expulsion.
In early Christianity,
a believer’s new identity—through conversion—was expressed by putting on a new
set of clothing. Thus, the guest’s refusal to put on a wedding garment represents
his rejection of Christ (Rom 13:14).
The mysterious
saying “many are called, but few are chosen” reflects a problem of the Hebrew
language created by its lack of comparative adjectives. Comparisons have to be
expressed by “large” and “small” or “many” and “few.” So, we can understand the
passage to mean the “chosen,” or saved, are “fewer” than those “called.”
The parable of the
wedding feast is really all about our response to God’s call. It cautions us
first about the dangers of indifference. When the Father invites us into a
relationship with his Son, we can choose to follow him. Or, we can turn Him
down and go back to our personal pursuits as though nothing has changed and no
new demands have been placed on our lives.
The parable also warns
us against indignation. Many people do not want to acknowledge that all sinners
need salvation. To them, the Good News and its call for repentance threaten
happiness and fulfilment. They would rather live in denial than receive God’s
mercy and grace.
Finally, the parable
warns us against incomplete conversion. The man without the wedding garment had
neither ignored nor refused the invitation to the feast. But, his yes to the
call of God was not carried through in his life. He wanted the good things of
the Kingdom, but not enough to break with his sinful ways and live as a
committed disciple.
The final verse captures
the message of the parable in a short maxim. Many are invited, Jesus says, but
few are chosen. The point is that all are called to the Kingdom, but not all
will be found worthy to possess it.
Some will decline the
invitation and so exclude themselves from its blessings. Others will accept it
but will not follow through in putting its demands into practice.
Now, here is where the
parable speaks about you! Those found acceptable are those committed to
directing their lives by the gospel. You are to clothe yourself in the garments
of true repentance and Christ-like righteousness. Indeed, you are to clothe
yourself in Christ.
Clothing oneself in
Christ through baptism and the gift of oneself is what links the saints whose
relics will be placed in the altar: the virgin to whom Our Lord appeared to
reveal his Sacred Heart—St. Margaret Mary Alacocque and the martyr saint, Maria
Goretti, the champion of purity from the last century and the ancient martyrs
Clare, Vincent and Severus.
We should know that, as
it was for our patron St. Maurice, whose relic we will embed in the altar on
this Golden Anniversary of the parish dedicated to his memory, attaching
ourselves to Christ is costly. This is particularly true in this age, which is
increasingly hostile to the gospel message.
The Roman Emperor
commanded the Theban Legion and Maurice to sacrifice to the gods but, as
Christian believers, they refused. Maurice sent him the message, “Emperor, we are your soldiers; we are ready to
combat the enemies of the empire, but we are also Christians, and we owe
fidelity to the true God. We are not rebels, but we prefer to die, innocent,
rather than to live, guilty.”
No comments:
Post a Comment