October_9

This parable of the wedding feast is a little hard for us to understand because we just do not have a frame of reference for the traditions of the Jewish people. However, for the listeners of the parables when Jesus spoke it, 2000 years ago, it would have been very clear to them. In fact, it’s possible that Jesus used an existing rabbinical parable of the day, one that was already familiar to them. The lesson is at least two-fold. It was a lesson for the listeners that God has provided a rich banquet in heaven and everyone is invited. Moreover, if those invited don’t show up, then the king, God, will invite others into the kingdom as well. Jesus was clearly speaking to His Jewish listeners, warning them that they are the chosen people, and they are invited to the banquet of eternal life in heaven, but if they don’t show up, they’ll be excluded from it, and others will be invited as well. However, that’s all well and good for 2000 years ago, but what does it mean for us today? I think it means a great deal.

This is kind of a good wake up call gospel that we need to hear from time to time. Jesus is telling us that the purpose of life is to achieve eternal life in heaven, with Christ Jesus and those we love who are with Him as well. And in line with the times and traditions of the Jewish people of the day, what they would do for a wedding feast, or any great feast but especially one that a king is having, they would send the invitations out a long time in advance, without a specific date and time. They didn’t have the things we have to keep track of time. In addition, when the feast was ready, when everything was in place, when the weather was right, and when the bride and groom were ready, then he would send out his servants at the last moment. However, the people were already prepared. They were ready. They had their dress lined up, they had everything set, and they would come quickly to the feast. That is, of course, an analogy for our life. In baptism, we were clothed in the garment of baptism; we have been instructed to follow the light of Jesus and now, we are just waiting for the call.

Are you all ready? The children said, “Yes!” and they are right. We should all say, “Yes.” That’s what we need to think about today. Those who refuse the invitation in this gospel did so for good reasons. They weren’t out sinning. They were taking care of the estate, taking care of the land, taking care of business. That’s good. We need to do those things. It gives order to our society and helps our economy, all good things in themselves. Nevertheless, they were so busy doing those good things that they lost sight of the most important thing, and that was this call to the banquet. The call to eternal life with God.

So it was then, and so it is now, to such a great extent. Our focus must be on God each and every day of our lives, as the reason that we live. It is not an afterthought. It is not one hour a week on Sunday. It is not an occasional prayer. It is the reason we live, the reason for our existence. “To know, love, and serve God now, and be happy with Him forever in the next life.” And yet, we have to admit I think, if not all of us, most of us, we’re distracted from this focus, this mission, by other things; things that are, in themselves, oftentimes very good. For instance, we take care of our estate, our money, our wealth, our property, our stuff. How much time do you spend doing that?

Several years ago, a friend got me interested in investments, in buying and selling stocks. I like to play the horses, and it’s the same thing, it’s just a bit more sophisticated. I was buying and selling stocks. In the morning, I was getting up and running to the computer, checking on news. By the way, it was for my retirement, but I’m doing fine. I really don’t need to invest for retirement. You’re going to take good care of me, when I retire at 102 years of age. It was consuming me. Suddenly, what I really didn’t care about became so important. I made some great investments. I had WorldCom, Enron. . . Seriously, though, I had to sell that stuff, and get out of that, because it was distracting me from being a priest. Now, I know none of you spends a lot of time worrying about your money, or your stocks and bonds, or your investments. Of course, you need to take care of those things, but they can’t become your focus. When they are taking too much of your time, you need to make some adjustments.

The same is true of hobbies. I like to play golf. I do it poorly, but I enjoy it. I’m getting a little bit better. I get allergy shots, and then after you get allergy shots you have to wait around for 30 minutes, to see if there’s a reaction. But the other day, I noticed before I got my shots, there was a new issue of Golf Magazine, and they were going to compare four hybrid clubs. Well, most of you don’t know what that means but I was so excited. I said, “Good, I won’t waste these 30 minutes.” I got my shot and I just jumped into that article and read every word. Then I thought about that morning, when I did my morning prayer, I ran through it quickly. I did it because I had to. I prayed to God because I had to. I had made a promise I would. I’m sure the Lord, and as a matter of fact, He said to me in a way, “John, where’s the zeal that you have for golf when you talk to Me? You’re going to spend eternity with me, I hope. You’re not going to spend the rest of eternity losing golf balls on the golf course.” You know what I mean? Hobbies.

Another distraction, well, not distraction but another cause for not placing God first, is even the pursuit of knowledge, which is certainly a good thing. Nevertheless, it can become all consuming. Frankly, if you’re an intelligent person, the more you know, the more you know you don’t know. When you come to that point, you know who knows everything, and that is the omniscient mighty God that we love and worship. Even our pursuit of knowledge should not be an end in itself. It should lead us to a closer and more trusting relationship with God. That’s even true of theological knowledge. One of my greatest disappointments, from the time I started seminary and was ordained as a priest, is all the arguments that go on in the church between the left and the right, the liberals and the progressives, the conservatives, the traditionalists, the orthodox, and whatever! Christianity was given to us so that we can live, not so that we can argue about everything. Of course, we don’t have any of that in this parish. The safe way, by the way, to take this little part of your life away, is to just listen to me, and agree with me. (!) I’m your Father, and I’m your Pastor. But seriously, there are some in the church, when you mention the church, its argument. They are concerned with about ten issues. Well, it is good to think, it’s good to reason, it’s good to discuss things that you may not understand it, or perhaps not fully agree with, but that should be one percent of your life as a Catholic Christian, not 99%.

Finally, the great distraction: WORK. How many of you live to work, instead of work to live? Work is important. It is noble, it adds to our society and to our world, but it’s not an end in itself. I’ve often mentioned, it is particularly a problem here in Los Alamos , especially these past few years, with the uncertainty and morale problems at LANL. However, that cannot be your focus. It can’t be. Your focus has to be God, and you live out that relationship with God in your family.

Recently, I spoke to a man whose child is very sick. The care of this child will take years. He has restructured his entire life, his family life, around his daughter, so that he and his wife can give her the very best care and love for her and for the other children. In order to do this, he stopped placing work as the most important thing in his life. He adjusted his work schedule. He is doing his work, satisfactorily, and he’s taking care of his family, placing them first. Interestingly, I asked him, “How is your work going these days?” He said, “Much better.” When he put it first, it wasn’t going as well. When he put God and his family first, he’s a better boss, he’s a better worker, he’s more productive, he can think better. Isn’t that true? We know that.

This parable is saying, "Be ready for the feast." When the servant comes to get you, be ready. The only way to do that is to be ready every day. The scriptures tell us, “Death will come upon us like a thief in the night.” So, be ready today, if you are 4 years old or if you are 90 years old. If you place God first, and your family first, you can be assured of that. I don’t know about you, but I need to “Kick it up a notch,” as Emeril says. Maybe some of you do, too. This would be a good day to start, to Kick up A Notch our faith and love, and time spent with God and those we love.