Tuesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/110612.cfm

MSF Picnic
2012

Then the master of the house in a rage commanded his servant,

'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town
and bring in here the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame.'
The servant reported, 'Sir, your orders have been carried out
and still there is room.'
The master then ordered the servant,
'Go out to the highways and hedgerows
and make people come in that my home may be filled.For, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.'"

This parable appears in both Saint Luke’s and Saint Matthew’s gospel, but in Luke’s version we are spared the murder of the messengers and the king’s destruction of the offending cities. Both evangelists, however, describe the outrageous behavior of the invited guests and the consequent rage of the insulted host. And in both stories that rage is expressed by an invitation to the poor, disabled and despised. It may be significant that these lowly people had not been invited and had not heard the initial invitation but they were brought into the banquet; whereas the invited had heard and refused the invitation, and suffered the consequence of being locked out. 

As we consider the parable and its meaning, we notice first God’s gracious invitation. It is generous and eager and irresistible. No reasonable human being would refuse it. Saint Luke’s Gospel seems to be the Gospel of Commons Sense, and Common Sense dictates we should drop what we’re doing and attend the wedding banquet. Only a fool would ignore such an opportunity. 

The master’s rage then is not unexpected or unreasonable. Which of us would not be angry if we went to enormous expense to prepare a dinner, only to find that all of the invited guests have snubbed us? As we hear in Isaiah 5:3-4 – 

Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem, people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard:What more could be done for my vineyardthat I did not do?

As we contemplate the mystery of Jesus we hear the same question, “What more could God do to celebrate his Son’s wedding?” This wedding is the incarnate union of the human and divine. It is the wedding of God’s purity, holiness and integrity with our fallen human nature. Attending this wedding, we will be led through the mystery of the cross to salvation. 

But many, and not only the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, ignore the invitation. Can we suppose they will not be held accountable for their willful neglect? 

Life itself often punishes foolishness without any apparent divine intervention. The teenager who does not study fails the tests, flunks the course, drops out of school, gets no job, beats his girlfriend and goes to jail. Is that not fair? He had the chance to do well but refused it. Not even our sympathy can change his fate. 

The gospel reminds us of the law of unintended consequences. Some might complain that the God represented in Jesus' parable is unforgiving and vengeful. But blaming God won’t help. 

Rather, we should understand that we need the gift of God's Holy Spirit at every moment of our lives to help us make the right decisions. 

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke 11:13)