MT 22: 1-14 (https://catholicreadings.org/twenty-eighth-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-a/)
The Covid-19 situation has had a negative impact upon so many activities in recent months. Ç’a va sans dire, .as they say. Our opportunities to celebrate – anything really – have been put on hold or required of humanity a creativity not normally exercised.
As members of the family of God we have had to minimise our celebrations of weddings, funerals, Christenings etc. Above all, we Catholics have found ourselves unable to celebrate the Eucharist, the gathering of God’s people where together we are fed and nourished in a remarkable way. Turning people away, not as a Family being able to say Eukariston –thanks in the Eucharist – is tragic indeed.
Creatively our church leadership has done wonders to assist us. With God’s help we shall return to some kind of normality…Let the celebration begin!
The Word of God reminds us today of what, through the Sacrament of Baptism, we have been invited to participate in. Jesus, who died and rose, invites us to share with him the gift of Himself to the Father in the Spirit. Tragic would it be indeed to reject such an invitation, to be content with the flotsam and jetsam of daily life.
Coming to the Eucharist surely requires preparation, as would be the case with any celebration such as marriage. In prayer we can come to know the ONE whom we shall meet. Our eyes and our heart alone, prayerfully upward, enable us to experience the JOY of intimacy which the Eucharist can bring. For us the wedding garment, without which is diminished the brilliance of the Eucharist, has to be a life lived, despite challenges, in conformity with the will of God.
There ain’t no other way!
Paul Walsh C.S.Sp.
