A Higher Law of Love. The Twenty-Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time 2020

 A Higher Law of Love. 

The Twenty-Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time 2020

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October 11, 2020

Isaiah 25:6-10; Psalm 23; Philippians 4:12-20; Matthew 22:1-14

 

 

Banquet imagery permeates the readings today, which reveals how Jesus thought of the Kingdom of heaven, as a very happy place where all our needs were met. Eternal life is like a victory feast where all would sit down together in harmony. The reading from Isaiah accentuates the joy where the presence of God will wipe away the tears from every face and the love that we naturally felt for one another would be enjoyed once again. It is a banquet that everyone wants to be invited. 

 

Well, as we find out in the Gospel, not everyone wants to join and the excuses abound. The first part of the parable tells us that many in Israel did not accept the invitation for various reasons. In their place of privilege, new guests of God sat in their seats and ate the food set aside for them, which caused great consternation. Just think about how uncomfortable it is when we go to church only to find someone else is sitting in our pew. For the Jews in Israel, Jesus told them that they had a special place, but many said, “No,” and their seats were given away, even though there will always be a place for them. Now, many excuses have been presented because people may justify real reasons for not attending the banquet or worship services, but one of the great dangers is when we allow that good things to come in between us and Christ. The worst type of temptation is when we let the good interfere with the best. 

 

But then, in the second part of the parable, the issue of the appropriate clothing arose, and this was meant to be a warning to both Jew and Gentile alike. No one is going to fault someone without means for not dressing properly for a feast, but the clothing is one’s disposition towards reverence. Each person is to make him or herself fit for the banquet, and we often fall into our concern about personal rights, as evidenced by the poorly dressed invitee. For a Christian, there are no rights without responsibility, because that would be an un-Christian license, and Christians are responsible for one another and for one’s proper disposition before God. 

 

Christians are called to a higher law of love, that is completely about responsibility and not rights. We dress rightly when we go to church, that is, we put on a disposition of love, not because there is an obligation to do so, but because we revere God. Consider how two people who are drawn to each other will dress as attractively as possible. They simply do it because they feel bound to be at their best. Love, the higher law of love, makes us want to fit ourselves to deserve the undeserved love of another - and the undeserved love of God. We put on our best selves for those whom we hold in high regard; we are called to be at our best.

 

How do we put on the right clothes? We begin to understand what life is all about, and we adjust our attitudes so that our conduct brings awe and reverence to the presence of God, whether it is within Church or outside of it. When we can see that the whole world is God’s canvas, we begin to treat it rightly. Also, when we attend worship services, it is right for us to get a clear idea of what is going on in every part of it because only then can we fully participate and share in the banquet. We have to always study and learn about our tradition. Finally, we can become aware of the greatness of the person in whose presence we are, and then we conform our conduct to fit that presence.

 

The lessons today are that we are invited to the banquet, but we have to accept the invitation, and then, if we plan to attend the banquet, our minds, hearts, and attitudes have to shape our conduct, which means to increase our capacity to reverence God in the world, and as we do so, we need to reverence the person who is our neighbor and stranger. Let us remember that this is a banquet of joy, a feast for the ages, a feast for eternity, and the laughter and harmony will reign. The love and affection that once existed between us and our loved ones will be reconciled, and we will enjoy one another’s presence to the end.          

 

Scripture for Daily Mass

 

First Reading:

Monday: (Galatians 4) It is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the freeborn woman. The son of the slave woman was born naturally, the son of the freeborn through a promise. Now this is an allegory. These women represent two covenants. One was from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; this is Hagar. But the Jerusalem above is freeborn, and she is our mother.

 

Tuesday: (Galatians 5) For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.

 

Wednesday: (Galatians 5) In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

 

Thursday: (Ephesians 1) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him.

 

Friday (Ephesians 1) In Christ we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ.

 

Saturday (Ephesians 1) Hearing of your faith in the Lord Jesus and of your love for all the holy ones, I do not cease giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him.

 

Gospel: 

Monday: (Luke 11) This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.

 

 

Tuesday: (Luke 11) Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you. 

 

Wednesday (Luke 11) Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.

 

Thursday (Luke 11) Woe to you who build the memorials of the prophets whom your fathers killed. Consequently, you bear witness and give consent to the deeds of your ancestors, for they killed them and you do the building.

 

 

Friday (Luke 12) I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body
but after that can do no more. I shall show you whom to fear. Be afraid of the one who after killing has the power to cast into Gehenna.

 

Saturday (Luke 12) I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God. But whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God.

 

Saints of the Week

 

October 12: John Beyzym, S.J., priest (1850-1912), was Ukranian-born, entered the Jesuits, and petitioned to work among the people of Madagascar who had Hansen’s disease (leprosy.) Since the lepers lived in remote shanty buildings with no windows or facilities, Beyzym worked hard to improve their living conditions, build a hospital, and a church. He died after contracting the disease. 

 

October 14: Callistus I, pope and martyr (d. 222) was a slave of a Christian who put him in charge of a bank that failed. He was jailed and upon his release became a deacon and counselor to Pope Zephyrinus. He became the first overseer of the official Christian cemetery that was eventually named after him. When he was elected Pope he introduced humanitarian reforms. He died during an uprising against Christians.  

 

October 15: Teresa of Avila, doctor (1515-1582), entered the Carmelites in Avila and became disenchanted with the laxity of the order. She progressed in prayer and had mystical visions. She introduced stricter reforms through her guidance of John of the Cross and Peter Alcantara. They founded the Discalced Carmelites for men and women.

 

October 16: Hedwig, religious, at age 12 married Henry, a prince who would become king of Silesia. As a monarch, they built a Cistercian monastery for women. They soon built many other religious houses and hospitals. She chose to live in austere poverty to be in solidarity with the poor.

 

October 16: Margaret Mary Alocoque entered the Visitation Order at Paray-le-Monial in 1671. She received visions of Christ's love and told her Jesuit spiritual director, Claude la Colombiere, who asked her to write about her experiences. They developed the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Her community resisted her promotion of the devotion at first, but later came to see the power of the prayers.

 

October 17: Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr (d. 107) was born around 33 A.D. and became a leading figure in the new church at Antioch. He served as bishop for 38 years before he was persecuted and killed under Emperor Trajan for being a Christian leader. He wrote seven letters about church life in the early second century and is the first-mentioned martyr of Roman heroes in the first Eucharistic Prayer.

 

This Week in Jesuit History

 

• October 11, 1688: King Louis XIV forbade all correspondence and interchange between the French Jesuits and Fr. Thyrsus Gonzalez, the Spanish General Superior of the Society. 
• October 12, 1976: The murder in rural Brazil of Joao Bosco Burnier, SJ, who was shot and killed by soldiers for protesting the torture of two poor women. 
• October 13, 1537: At Venice the Papal Nuncio published his written verdict declaring that Ignatius Loyola was innocent of all charges which had been leveled against him by his detractors. 
• October 14, 1774: A French Jesuit in China wrote an epitaph to the Jesuit mission in China after the suppression of the Society. It concludes: "Go, traveler, continue on your way. Felicitate the dead; weep for the living; pray for all. Wonder, and be silent."
• October 15, 1582: St Teresa of Avila died on this day -- the first day of the new Gregorian calendar. She always wished to have a Jesuit as a confessor. 
• October 16, 1873: About two weeks after Victor Emmanuel's visit to Berlin, where he had long conferences with Bismark, rumors reached the Society in Rome that all of their houses in Rome were threatened. 
• October 17, 1578: St Robert Bellarmine entered the Jesuit novitiate of San Andrea in Rome at the age of 16.