Commentary
Sunday, 10/15/2017, Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Reward for Choosing God
First Reading Commentary: Isaiah 25:6-10a
In today’s prophecy from Isaiah, the LORD tells us that He is our Savior and that there will come a day when He will destroy all that is evil. Today’s reading and in fact, all of Isaiah 25 is a prophecy of the fall of Babylon. It is also a prophecy of the Kingdom of Heaven as it is described in the Book of Revelations.
Isaiah says that the LORD will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines. This part of the prophecy refers to the Harvest of the Earth in Revelations 14:14-20 and the Wedding Feast of the Lamb in Revelations 19:7-9.
On the last day, the one who sits on the cloud, Christ, will swing His cycle over the earth and it will be harvested. Angels with sharp cycles will assist with the harvesting and the one who comes out of the temple will cut the clusters from the earth’s vines. Only the best fruit of the harvest will be selected for making the choice wines. Only God’s chosen plant, all those who have chosen to be with God, will be invited to the Feast.
Have you ever felt left out or insulted because you were not invited to a party or some other event that was being hosted by a friend or relative? Do you feel special when someone thinks enough of you to make sure that you are invited? God reaches out to us constantly and never gives up on us but if we are not invited to the feast on the last day, it will be because we rejected God in this life.
You may wonder how it could be possible for anyone to reject God. He is the creator of all things and all that is good comes from Him. We ourselves are created in God’s image and as a result, there is good in all of us. So how is it possible that we will not all go to heaven?
Again, we must remember that we all have a free will. God does not force us to come to Him. God allows us to make the choice. It is the evil one who clouds our vision with his evil ways. He makes us believe that bad is good and that good is bad. It is his influence that will keep some of us from being invited to the feast.
In Isaiah’s prophecy, it is the devil’s influence which is the veil that veils all peoples and the web that is woven over all nations. But the veil and the web will be destroyed and we see this throughout the book of Revelations as God brings His wrath upon all that is evil.
Some people are afraid to read the book of Revelations because of its imagery that goes along with God’s wrath. But instead of being frightened by the imagery of God’s wrath, we should concentrate on the fact that the book of Revelations is all about the final battle between good and evil. We should concentrate on the fact that when the last day comes, the covenant that Christ made with all of us, which is the promise of the Kingdom of Heaven, will be fulfilled. We should concentrate on the fact that our God is an awesome God who does not break promises and we have the choice of being with Him in His Kingdom or being sent to hell.
Isaiah says, “He will destroy death forever.” This is a prophecy of Revelations 20:11-14 where those who have their names written in the book of life, including those in Hades, will be given up from the dead. This is proof that God gives us every opportunity to be with Him because even those whose souls are in a state of death because of their sins will be taken into heaven if their names are written in the book of life and their names will be there if that is their choice. The peace, joy and happiness of eternal life is; God’s promise to those who enter the Kingdom. For them, death will no longer exist.
Imagine being able to live forever in a state of total peace. Imagine being able to live forever with absolutely nothing to be concerned about or worried about or to be sad about or cry about. Imagine being able to live forever with nothing to do but be happy giving God His praise with gratitude because you are alive and happy.
This is what Isaiah prophesizes when he says, “The LORD God will wipe away the tears from every face…This is the LORD for whom we looked; let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!” This is a prophecy of Revelations 21:1-7 and 22:3-4.
Two weeks ago, the message from the day’s liturgy was that we should change our minds meaning that we should turn away from our sinful ways and ask God for His mercy and forgiveness. Last week, the message was that God does not prune His vineyard meaning that He does not destroy the evilness that surrounds us. Instead, God gives us the opportunity to choose Him over evil by our own free will so that He can bring us to Him. Today’s prophecy is all about the reward for choosing God, the Kingdom of Heaven.
What We Really Need
Second Reading Commentary: Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20
There are two things to keep in mind when reading today’s excerpt from Paul’s letter to the Philippians. 1- Before his conversion, Paul was a Pharisee as well as a Roman citizen who came from a well to do family. From a financial and materialistic perspective, Paul lived the good life. 2- After his conversion, Paul became just like Christ in every way and lived a life of total humility. He no longer lived the lavish life but he sought nothing from anyone.
Nevertheless, Paul was thanking the Philippians for sending him money while he was in prison. But in his gratitude, Paul wanted to send the Philippians a message. He wanted them to understand that one’s financial status does not matter because money and material possessions have no value with Christ.
What we all need more than anything else, are the things that will bring us close to God and win for us a place in His Kingdom. Paul says, “I can do all things in him who strengthens me.” Paul is testifying that all things are possible with God and if we allow God to carry out His Will through us, all things become possible with us and for us. There is no challenge on earth that we cannot overcome with God’s help but if we try to do it alone, we will fail.
So, Paul tells us to seek strength from God. If we do, Paul says, “God will fully supply whatever you need, in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” This means much more than the words describe by themselves. Think about it. When we consider that which is in accord with God’s glorious riches, we have to consider all that there is because God created all things. But it does not stop there.
Throughout the ages, God has demonstrated His generosity. Christ showed His divine generosity when He fed the Five Thousand with five loaves and two fish in Matthew 15:15-21 and the Feeding of the Four Thousand with seven loaves and two fish in Matthew 15:32-38. In both cases, there was an abundance of left overs. But God’s generosity is even much greater than that.
The Feeding of the Five Thousand and the Feeding of the Four Thousand were forerunners to the Institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. There, Christ consecrated unleavened bread and wine into His Living Body and Blood and gave the Apostles the authority to do the same and instructed them to do so in His memory.
The Apostles were the first priests and bishops of the Church and only they have the authority, which was given to them by Christ, to consecrate bread and wine into the Body and Blood and that authority has been passed down to all generations and all future generations of priests and bishops. With this authority, Christ saw to it that He could be with us always in a real and physical way.
But there is no greater demonstration of God’s generosity than the Crucifixion. The Father gave up His Only Son and the Son willingly agreed to be sacrificed so that our sins could die on the cross. It is said that there is no greater love. There is also no greater generosity.
How do we say thank you? Paul gives us a good example when he says, “To our God and Father, glory forever and ever. Amen.”
Accept the Invitation
Gospel Commentary Matthew 22:1-14
Why do people reject or ignore invitations to special events? Sometimes, it is because they have a conflict in their schedule. They have to work or there is some other event that they are already committed to. Maybe it is because they do not like the person who is extending the invitation. Or maybe they don’t like some of the other people who they know will be in attendance. Maybe it is because they do not like the event itself. For whatever the reason, sometimes we do not accept invitations.
In today’s gospel, which is the Parable of the Wedding Feast, Jesus addresses all of these excuses while giving us the message that there is no acceptable excuse for refusing His invitation to be with Him. To refuse the invitation from Jesus to be with Him is to refuse the Kingdom of Heaven.
The Wedding Feast that Jesus is talking about; is described in Revelations 19:7-9. This parable is about the last day, the Kingdom of Heaven, those who will enter and those who will not. Jesus makes it very clear that if anyone does not enter the Kingdom of Heaven, it will be because they chose to stay away.
In the parable, it is the Jews who were the invited guests who refused to come to the feast. John the Baptist and other prophets before him who had been executed were the servants who were killed. The Gentiles are the people from the streets who did come to the feast.
When we meditate on this gospel, we have to ask ourselves; who are we like. Are we like the Jews who refused the invitation or are we like the Gentiles who attended the Wedding Feast? If we choose to live a life of sin, we refuse the invitation. But if we choose to follow Christ, we accept the invitation. It is that simple. Who are we?
But we have to do more than accept the invitation. We have to come prepared. In Revelations 19:8, we see that the bride of the Lamb is allowed to wear a bright, clean linen garment. We have to understand the Lamb, the bride and the garment.
The Lamb is Christ who sacrificed Himself on our account. He is the Son and the Groom and it is His Feast given by the Father. Together as a whole, those who believe in Christ and follow Him are the bride. Not individually, but collectively. They are the holy ones in Revelations. Revelations says that their bright, linen garment represents their righteous deeds. This is not making reference to the good things that they did in this life. Rather, their righteous deeds are their repenting for whatever sins they committed in this life.
This garment in Revelations plays a very important part in today’s parable. There was a man who came to the feast who was not dressed in a wedding garment. The king had him cast into the darkness outside where there is wailing and grinding of teeth. Again, Jesus is making it clear that we cannot live in His Kingdom if we do not repent for our sins before we get there.
All of the other readings for the previous two Sundays and today, point to this gospel. God knows that we are broken. He knows that we sin. But in spite of that, God still wants us to be with Him. Therefore, He gives us every opportunity to change our minds and repent and He allows us to do that over and over again because He knows that we will sin over and over again. God gives us every opportunity to accept His invitation and today, Jesus tells us that we accept the invitation when we repent.
