[stephenkhoo]

RESPONDING TO THE GRACE OF THE KINGDOM
SCRIPTURE READINGS: Rom 12:5-16; Lk 14:15-24
http://www.universalis.com/20131105/mass.htm

We have just celebrated the Feast of All Saints and All Souls. Both feasts are founded on the doctrine of the Communion of Saints. Today the liturgy further elaborates what it means to enter heaven and live in the communion of saints. The Good News today is the reiteration that God wants us all to share His life in the Kingdom, which is presented as a banquet. Indeed, the Father wants His house to be full. It is His desire that all of us would be “at the feast in the kingdom of God.” He told His servants to “force people to come in” so that His house would be full. Of course, the compulsion here is not a physical compulsion but that of love. In other words, the love of God would be so great and overwhelming that all would be “forced” to submit to His love.

This free invitation of God is illustrated in the parable of the Wedding Banquet. Those who were initially invited were the Jews. They were those who were given notice of the banquet. Indeed, the prophets have always been prophesying of the coming of the Messiah who would lead them to the Messianic banquet. Besides, the Jews, God also welcomes sinners. The outcasts are symbolized by the invitation given to the “poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.” According to Jewish understanding, it is because of their sins that they were in this state of poverty for their suffering is the punishment of God. Finally, we are told that besides sinners who are welcomed to the feast, God also invited the Gentiles as well, the non-Jews, in His graciousness. These are the people who stayed on the highway and the hedgerows.

However, although the gracious invitation of God has been given to all, and entry to the Messianic banquet is the grace of God, yet the gift must be accepted humbly. So the grace of God is both a gift and a task. A response is required from us. Unfortunately, many people want the grace of God but they seek for cheap grace. They want to live in the kingdom of God but they do not want to give up their sins. They want peace, but they want to do their own will. They want happiness but they want to find it in things. They want joy but without the cross. They want the fullness of God’s love but they do not place Him first in their lives. In a nutshell, they are looking for cheap grace. They fail to understand that grace is costly. It cost the Son of God His life, His death on the cross.

What then could be the reasons we make for not responding to the love of God? Well, many of us have valid reasons, just like those who were invited to the banquet but turned down at the last minute. One of them said, “I have bought a piece of land and must go and see it.” Well, isn’t it true that we have our business, work, family, school and social commitments?

Indeed, even those of us who are doing Church work are often too busy for God. At most we say some prayers, even attend Mass, but we do not pray because we only move our lips but not our hearts. We do not pray with our being or learn how to keep silent before God. And we justify ourselves because it seems that we are doing the work of God after all. So the Lord will understand us for not praying since we so busy doing His work. But is that what the Lord really wants from us?

Secondly, our interests in life distract us. This was the excuse of the second man. His excuse was “I have bought five yoke of oxen and am on my way to try them out.” Like him, some of us have special interests and hobbies. We might have bought a new computer, a new palmtop, a TV, a fishing rod or a pet. So we are busy trying out our newfound gadgets and equipments; and playing with them. Some of us can be so taken up by our personal interests that we have no time for God.

Thirdly, we can lose sight of God because of personal attachments to people. The third man said, “I have just got married and so am unable to come.” Again on the surface, the apology seems to be legitimate. That he just got married and wants to spend intimate time with his wife is justifiable. But the truth is that our first commitment must be to God and not our loved ones nor our friends. Unless we place God above all, we cannot love our dear ones and friends appropriately. When friends usurp the place of God and occupy the throne of God in our hearts, then we know that we have misplaced our priority in life. We will only destroy ourselves because we have made our loved ones are gods!

Indeed, what is most important is that we cultivate a deep intimacy with the Lord. Our love for God must be above all things and all people in our lives. When we put God as the first love in our lives, everything else will be in its proper place. This is what the psalmist himself has come to realize. In the responsorial psalm, he prayed, “O Lord … I busy not myself with great things, nor with things too sublime for me. Nay rather, I have stilled and quieted my soul like a weaned child. Like a weaned child on its mother’s lap, so is my soul within me. Indeed, let our response to God be “In you, O Lord, I have found my peace.”

However, intimacy with the Lord is not yet living the fullness of life in the kingdom. From intimacy with the Lord, we must now live in communion with the Body of Christ, the communion of Saints. This is what St Paul is urging us in the first reading. “All of us, in union with Christ, from one body, and as parts of it we belong to each other.” We can live this communion by recognizing our gifts and using them for the good of the community. We must serve according to the talents the Lord has given to us and do so willingly and cheerfully as well. As St Paul exhorts us, “If your gift is prophecy, then use it as your faith suggests; if administration, then use it for administration; if teaching, then use it for teaching. Let the preachers deliver sermons, the almsgivers give freely, the officials be diligent, and those who do works of mercy do them cheerfully.” Besides using our gifts for the service of others, we must show others respect and recognize their contributions as well. We are called to love our brothers and sisters sincerely, helping and sharing with them when they are in need and make hospitality our special care. We are also exhorted to practice tolerance, forgiveness and charity as well.

In a nutshell, St Paul is giving us the program of a Christian life. By living our life in this manner, we will be able to “work for the Lord with untiring effort and with great earnestness of spirit.” Of course, such a life presupposes that we make ourselves available to the Lord in prayer and contemplation. This must be the foundation of our Christian life. Without living in communion with Christ, it would be impossible to live the kind of life which is proposed by St Paul, a life lived by Christ Himself, for what Paul has said is a paraphrase of the Beatitudes in the gospel.