Sunday Readings in Brief 28A
Is 25:6-10; Ps 23, Phil 4:12-14.19-20; Mat 22,1-14
Important Things in Life
Dear Frienda, in today’s Gospel reading, Jesus is presenting to us another parable of the kingdom of heaven, a wedding feast. A parable is an earthly story with heavenly meaning. It presents us with a common scenario in order to envisage the unseen reality. In the olden days, normally people were invited to the wedding to go and eat, drink and be happy with the bride and the bridegroom. Today wedding feasts have become fundraising and commercial advertisement events where the poor and children are not allowed. In Jesus’ days, it was not what people brought to the wedding feast that mattered but their presence to enjoy with the bride and the groom. However, one needed to be dressed properly for the occasion.
In the first part of the parable all, of the invited guests turned down the king. They were special guests probably invited with a card. We need to note here that common people did not dare turn down a king when he invited them. These people might have been rich people who did not have the fear of the king. We see it in our society today that wealth and money seem to be respected more than any office. Rich people can get away with any crime including insulting legitimate leaders. It was very arrogant of them because they decided to boycott the feast at the last moment without prior notice. The king might have spent a fortune on food and drinks and this would have all gone to waste.
In the second part of the parable, the king decides to open the feast to all except those who have refused to come. Here we note that though the king welcomed everybody he did not relax the rules on the wedding dress code. In fact, we hear that only one person was found not in a proper wedding garment in the whole hall. It means that everyone was aware of what the occasion’s dress code was and this person just ignored it. The consequence of this was having himself thrown out.
In today’s world, everyone seems to be very busy with something. In the olden days, people used to have time to sit and just enjoy the company of each other. I remember how after the day’s work at home we used to gather with friends in the evenings and would just be there talking. On Sundays after mass, we used to visit relatives and friends and spend the rest of the day with them. We had time even during the weekdays to go to Church for prayers, sports, and discussions. Today all that seems to have vanished in thin air. The days have the same 24 hours, but they seem not to be enough, or let us say those moments with family, relatives, and friends are no longer a priority.
“Civilization” and modern technology have changed so much how we relate with others. Covid-19 pandemic widened the gap even further. Humans are now slaves to their own occupations and jobs and individual space seems more important than ever. Mobile phones have robbed us of physical closeness and we are more connected to people that are miles away than those close to us. With our eyes glued to the screens, the earphones on our ears, and the hands on the keyboard, the world shrinks to unprecedented magnitudes. People are being knocked by vehicles or knocking themselves against obstacles while they walk. This phenomenon is also affecting how we think and relate to others.
God, through his beloved son Jesus Christ, has invited all of us to the feast of his kingdom here on earth and later on in heaven with him. Nevertheless, being busy as we are, there is no time to encounter our creator even virtually. We are simply turning God down and are occupied with more important things in life. We risk being thrown outside when God’s patience is no longer available to us. That is when we die. As long as we live, we have numerous chances to respond to God’s invitation to be good people and to join in his feast. A time will come when that freedom will no longer be available for us. That time, we will have nobody but ourselves to blame.
People have many excuses as to why they do not go to Church on Sundays or join others in Small Christian Communities. Slowly the importance of worship especially for the Christians is being eroded. Even during the slave trade, the slaves were allowed to worship and rest on Sundays. Today we are even worse than the slaves were. Our occupations have enslaved us more than the olden slave masters. We do not give ourselves even time to rest or worship. We are so busy we do not even have time to prepare good meals but are instead eating junk food. Our bodies, minds, and souls are hurting because they are starved of proper nourishment, and we call this “civilization”.
Those who manage to find time to go to worship forget to dress for the occasion. If you see how people dress for Church service, you wonder if they understand at all what they are going to do. There are all manner of dresses. While women dress scantly, men come with pajamas, slippers, and unkempt hair to Church. We seem to have lost the sense of a proper code of conduct anywhere we go because the world has relativized everything. There are no checks and balances because the institutions that used to do so have since lost relevance beginning with the family. Today’s parable is similar to that of the ten virgins where five were wise and five were foolish. The wise carried with them extra oil for their lamps in case the bride delayed and five just left anyhow.
People remember God when things are now working for them, and they want God to fix their problems instantly. However, St. Paul in the letter to the Philippians is reminding us that if we are close to God, there is nothing that will be too difficult for us. God gives strength to those who fear him and live according to his will.
Today my dear friends, I invite all of us to spend some moments evaluating whether the things that we deem so important in our day-to-day living are the most important in life. What are we exactly busy doing? They say to make hay while the sun shines.
Have a blessed Sunday
Fr. Lawrence Muthee, SVD
SVD JAMBO KENTAN 