A Wedding Feast
How many of you have received invitations from a friend for a large formal dinner that will take place in the coming weeks? A delightful evening will be spread out for you, the rich foods and choice wines only reflecting the warm affection and sparkling charm of the people with whom you will dine.
Life is a banquet, if only we had eyes to see it. At every turn, the Lord spreads a feast before us. Some see it, and some don’t. Recently I was waiting in line at an airport security screening, and the scanners had shut down. The line was getting a little long, and a young man got in line behind me. “I guess the scanners broke down,” I mumbled. “I guess so,” he said “but it’s just a blessing to be here.” I looked at him. He was beaming with joy. “And I’m going home to two beautiful blessings in a few hours.” Suddenly I was happy too. “How many blessings do you have?” I asked. “Two, he smiled, and a beautiful wife.”
Choice wines
Life is a wedding banquet, and we are the invited guests. “On this mountain, the Lord will provide a feast of rich foods and choice wines,” the Prophet Isaiah says in the first reading, chapter 25. “Juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines. He will destroy death forever, he will wipe away every tear, he will remove the reproach from every person, for the hand of the Lord will rest upon this mountain.” Historically, the Prophet is referring to Mount Zion and the restoration of the Jerusalem temple after the Babylonian Captivity. But for us in Modesto, God is talking about this mountain. You see these three steps leading up to this altar? Here is the mountain, and here is the place, where God will provide rich foods and choice wines, healing and joy and salvation for each of us. Here, at the Catholic altar.
Why don’t we see it?
How is it that so often we are gloomy? Why don’t we see the feast spread out before us? The first step of Christian stewardship is to believe that God loves us, to cultivate the virtue of gratitude. This sounds easy enough when we are healthy and financially secure and have lots of friends. But when things stop going our way, then even for those of us who have a natural optimism, believing gets rather more difficult. Then we have to work at it.
St. Paul worked hard at stewardship. “Brothers and sisters,” he tells us in the Second Reading, “I know how to live …” “I know how to live in humble circumstances, and I know how to live with abundance.” This is the secret, as he says, of living well. To give thanks when we have much, and to give thanks also when we are in want. “My God will supply whatever you need—to him be glory forever and ever.” Amen? Amen.
Christian stewardship is knowing that we are loved, even when it doesn’t feel like it. This is our necessary response to God’s gifts. St. Teresa of Avila got thrown off her horse while crossing a stream. She looked up at the sky and said, “If this is the way you treat your friends, no wonder you have so few of them.” She said it with an ironic twinkle in her eye, but this same Teresa never tired of singing the blessings of God. She entitled her biography “Forever will I sing the blessings of the Lord.”
Knowing how to live is knowing how to sing of God’s blessings. This is our response. It means “dressing well for God.” In the Gospel, Jesus describes his Kingdom, again, as a wedding banquet. A man arrives without proper attire. His shabby appearance showed how little he appreciated his invitation. So the king threw him out bodily. “Many are invited, few are chosen.” A good steward prepares for Mass. He goes to confession regularly, he studies the scriptures, he dresses well, he brings a tithe to mingle with the other wedding gifts. He recognizes blessings and responds to them. This is true happiness.
Life is a wedding banquet. God almighty spreads it out before us every day. Let’s cultivate the virtue of gratitude, our response to his blessings.
How many of you have received invitations from a friend for a large formal dinner that will take place in the coming weeks? A delightful evening will be spread out for you, the rich foods and choice wines only reflecting the warm affection and sparkling charm of the people with whom you will dine.
Life is a banquet, if only we had eyes to see it. At every turn, the Lord spreads a feast before us. Some see it, and some don’t. Recently I was waiting in line at an airport security screening, and the scanners had shut down. The line was getting a little long, and a young man got in line behind me. “I guess the scanners broke down,” I mumbled. “I guess so,” he said “but it’s just a blessing to be here.” I looked at him. He was beaming with joy. “And I’m going home to two beautiful blessings in a few hours.” Suddenly I was happy too. “How many blessings do you have?” I asked. “Two, he smiled, and a beautiful wife.”
Choice wines
Life is a wedding banquet, and we are the invited guests. “On this mountain, the Lord will provide a feast of rich foods and choice wines,” the Prophet Isaiah says in the first reading, chapter 25. “Juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines. He will destroy death forever, he will wipe away every tear, he will remove the reproach from every person, for the hand of the Lord will rest upon this mountain.” Historically, the Prophet is referring to Mount Zion and the restoration of the Jerusalem temple after the Babylonian Captivity. But for us in Modesto, God is talking about this mountain. You see these three steps leading up to this altar? Here is the mountain, and here is the place, where God will provide rich foods and choice wines, healing and joy and salvation for each of us. Here, at the Catholic altar.
Why don’t we see it?
How is it that so often we are gloomy? Why don’t we see the feast spread out before us? The first step of Christian stewardship is to believe that God loves us, to cultivate the virtue of gratitude. This sounds easy enough when we are healthy and financially secure and have lots of friends. But when things stop going our way, then even for those of us who have a natural optimism, believing gets rather more difficult. Then we have to work at it.
St. Paul worked hard at stewardship. “Brothers and sisters,” he tells us in the Second Reading, “I know how to live …” “I know how to live in humble circumstances, and I know how to live with abundance.” This is the secret, as he says, of living well. To give thanks when we have much, and to give thanks also when we are in want. “My God will supply whatever you need—to him be glory forever and ever.” Amen? Amen.
Christian stewardship is knowing that we are loved, even when it doesn’t feel like it. This is our necessary response to God’s gifts. St. Teresa of Avila got thrown off her horse while crossing a stream. She looked up at the sky and said, “If this is the way you treat your friends, no wonder you have so few of them.” She said it with an ironic twinkle in her eye, but this same Teresa never tired of singing the blessings of God. She entitled her biography “Forever will I sing the blessings of the Lord.”
Knowing how to live is knowing how to sing of God’s blessings. This is our response. It means “dressing well for God.” In the Gospel, Jesus describes his Kingdom, again, as a wedding banquet. A man arrives without proper attire. His shabby appearance showed how little he appreciated his invitation. So the king threw him out bodily. “Many are invited, few are chosen.” A good steward prepares for Mass. He goes to confession regularly, he studies the scriptures, he dresses well, he brings a tithe to mingle with the other wedding gifts. He recognizes blessings and responds to them. This is true happiness.
Life is a wedding banquet. God almighty spreads it out before us every day. Let’s cultivate the virtue of gratitude, our response to his blessings.
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