“An Invitation Has Been Issued” by Beth
DeCristofaro
Jephthah made a vow to the LORD. "If you
deliver the Ammonites into my power," he said, "whoever comes out of
the doors of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites shall
belong to the LORD. I shall offer him up as a burnt offering." … When Jephthah returned to his
house in Mizpah, it was his daughter who came forth, playing the tambourines
and dancing. (Judges
11:30-31, 34)
Then the king said to his servants, 'The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. Go out,
therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.' The
servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good
alike, and the hall was filled with guests. (Matthew 22:8-10)
Piety
Lord Jesus, I need your help to open my heart
to your invitation and celebrate the feast you have prepared through my behaviors
and manners.
Study
It seems to me that Our Blessed Mother, Queen
of Heaven, would cry if she read these passages. The Jephthah arrogance and his
mistaken understanding of God and what God wants caused the death of an
innocent. In Jesus’ parable, the self-serving and violent behavior of the
King’s subjects, his invited guests, resulted in murder and chaos. Mary is the
queen of fiat, pierced heart, courageous witness and proclaimer, mother to all
even those in the ditches. Jesus’ message, again and again, is of humility,
service, acceptance of God’s word.
Yesterday’s Gospel reminded us that all of
our labor in the vineyard, whether we are cradle Catholic or come late to our
belief is for naught. God’s generosity – our daily wages – is not based on our
efforts but comes from the irrational (humanly speaking), superabundant,
gushing forth of God’s grace. Today’s invited guests are not just whiners like
yesterday’s laborers. Today’s invited guests prefer their own pursuits to an
invitation from their King. God doesn’t have to smite us like the king in this
parable. We do that to ourselves. We choose business or pietistic activities,
ideology or fame, political persuasion or self-indulgent hobbies, fortune or
career, self-absorbed anger or judgment. We isolate ourselves from God and from
each other. It is even all too easy to convince ourselves that a good goal is
more important than God’s goal.
No wonder the Queen of Heaven might weep. The
generosity of the King of Kings is our salvation. Mary realized that choosing
the will of God would not be easy or result in human acclaim. But her faith
gave her no other choice, she accepted her King’s invitation. Our labors might
not earn us an invitation as it is already granted. Our labors, however, can
till the soil and plant the crops of the kingdom.
Action
How
loving and grateful am I to the King who invites me? Am I refusing the
invitation?
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