Come to the Feast

August 21, 2008

Memorial of Saint Pius X, pope

I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your impurities, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts. I will put my spirit within you and make you live by my statutes, careful to observe my decrees. Ezekiel 36:25-27

“But when the king came in to meet the guests he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment. He said to him, ‘My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?’ But he was reduced to silence. Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’ Many are invited, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:10-14

Piety

Lord, you opened the eyes and heart of Simon of Cyrene and you gave him, by his share in your cross, the grace of faith. Help us to aid our neighbors in need, even when this interferes with our own plans and desires. Wash away the obstacles that hinder us from realizing that it is a grace to be able to share the cross of others and, in this way, to know that we are walking with you along the way. Help us to appreciate with joy that when we share in your suffering and the suffering of this world, we become servants of salvation and are able to help build up your Body, the Church. Amen. (From Way of the Cross by Benedict XVI)

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/082108.shtml

Exodus, Jeremiah, Leviticus and Ezekiel all repeat the covenant of the Hebrew Bible. “You shall be my people and I will be your God.” While often repeated, it does not come without conditions. There is an ever-present need for change in order to bring the promise full circle.

Ezekiel details how the Lord offers to cleanse (change) his people, curing them of their infirmities, getting them to turn back from their idols. The Lord’s generosity (“I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you.”) comes through at all times.

However, that unconditional generosity seeks our response. We can not sit there like a dead fig tree. We may have free will but if we want to take advantage of this new covenant, then we must choose to accept the changes the Lord offers to us. God will change us but we have to be willing to accept such changes. We have to be willing to be washed. We have to be willing to accept a new heart. We have to make room for a new spirit to be placed within us. Without this re-birth, then we will be our old, flawed selves. This is what Jesus referred to when talking to Nicodemus during that late night encounter.

Nicodemus said to him, “How can a person once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot reenter his mother's womb and be born again, can he?” Jesus answered, “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit.” John 3:4-6

Garments play an important role in the life of Christ. At his birth, we learned that Mary wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in the manger. At his crucifixion, we learned how Jesus was robbed of his dignity and every last thread on his human body. He offered up everything to redeem us of our sins. At the resurrection, Mary Magdalene sees Christ shining brightly in a radiant white garment.

Without putting on the wedding garment of change, we remain our old selves. Yet the wedding features new creation. Although the banquet may be seen as if it is any party with food and friends, drinks and dancing, you are always drawn to the new garments. The bride’s dress. The groom’s tuxedo. All the guests are “dressed up” for the occasion.

Yet it is not just a change in outward appearances. These external signs are also signs of the internal change…the bride offering her heart and her life and her love to her groom. The groom offers his heart and his life and his love to his bride.

The Lord offers to us his heart, his life, his spirit and his love. He asks only for the same from us. Nothing more. But nothing less.

Action

Unless we accept the need to change, we will not move forward in our journey. What one thing are you willing to change to be invited to the feast?