We are all invited!
Guy 1: Remember my girlfriend whom I introduced to my millionaire grandfather last summer vacation?
Guy 2: Yeah, well, what about it?
Guy 1: Well, they got married. She is my grandmother now!
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In today’s Gospel (Matthew 22:1-14), Jesus talks about a wedding feast, and the many joys and surprises that come along with it. We are all invited to the great feast of Heaven. You and I are important to God. We matter to Him, but, sad to say, we often send our “regrets,” or we snub and belittle His invitation altogether. Why? Because we have other “more important matters” to attend to. Or so we think, and before we know it, we have missed the most important matter in our lives. “Your most important appointment today is your appointment with God.” Some of us are so “busy” that we often put God on the side and in hindsight. At the end of our lives, may we not be filled with regrets that we loved God too little, too late.
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Remember the story about a guy who found P100 on the road? He picked it up with much joy. And the story could have ended there on a happy note. But you know what happened? From then on, whenever he walked, his eyes would be focused on the road, hoping to find another P100 bill. And so it happened that after many years of walking with his back bent and his eyes focused on the ground, he became a hunchback. He didn’t even care to see the sunset and he hardly looked at people’s faces, all because he was looking for more P100 bills. He missed out on life as a feast and a celebration of simple joys, because his whole life had become one big search for money, more money, and more money.
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God is such a welcoming Father! How welcoming are you? Are you approachable? Are you within reach? Do people have to put up with you? Do you shut out people because they are not of your own kind, class, smell, party, or religion? The challenge for all of us is to keep on being open and vulnerable, instead of being comfortable. May God “disturb” us when we begin to think that we are owners, and not tenants, residents, and not pilgrims in this world.
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It is so sad that our country is racked by so much division and disunity these days. If only we really listened to God, then there would not be so much greed in our hearts. All this noise about power boils down to greed. I pray that we all be filled with God’s spirit of love and generosity. That’s the problem. We have left out God in the way we conduct politics in our country.
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Today is Indigenous Peoples’ Sunday. This observance is meant to remind us that God is in them, in their cultures, and values. In fact, indigenous peoples are more Christian than many so-called Christians. We can learn a lot, as in “a lot” from them, especially “respect, understanding, compassion, and love.”
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In the Philippines, we have Divine Word Missionaries (SVDs) working with indigenous peoples in Abra, Cagayan, Mountain Province, Pampanga, Mindoro, Mindanao, and Palawan. As seminarians, we spent many summers with them. One of the things I learned from the Mangyans of Mindoro is their being “receivers,” not “getters.” They don’t grab or get something that is being given to them. They just open their hands and receive gratefully. Our government leaders and officials could surely learn a lot from them.
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We take note, too, of the deep respect and responsible care our indigenous peoples show for Mother Nature. They don’t hunt more than they can eat; neither do they get from the Earth more than what they need. Shame on us who see the world with eyes so full of greed. Double the shame on the moneyed and the powerful who capitalize on little people’s needs.
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This is a beautiful and hopeful time of the year, when rice is now ready for harvest. Let us all say a prayer for the farmers who worked so hard for the rice that is served at our table. Let us also learn again from rice stalks. Those that stand tall and proud are actually empty. Those that are lowly and unseen are actually the ones heavy with grain. Yes, there are people who are rich and mighty but they are emp-ty. All they have is their money. Period. And they don’t have peace.
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At very important and crucial moments of our history as a nation, Mama Mary was there for us. I believe that our Mother will bless our motherland with peace, unity, and true progress soon. A folly maybe to some, but the lowly rosary is very powerful. Never underestimate the power of prayer. Pray on. Pray without ceasing. Pray desperately. Our Lady of La Naval de Manila, pray for us! Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
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A moment with the Lord:
Lord, help us to honor and respond to Your loving invitation. Amen.
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The fame we can be proud of