Not Worthy of the Feast Lord by Beth DeCristofaro
Thus says the LORD: I will prove the holiness of my great name, profaned among the nations…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. (Ezekiel 36:23, 26)
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. … Many are invited, but few are chosen.(Matthew 22:8-10, 14)
Piety
Turn away your face from my sins;
blot out all my iniquities.
A clean heart create for me, God;
renew within me a steadfast spirit.
Do not drive me from before your face,
nor take from me your holy spirit.
Restore to me the gladness of your salvation;
uphold me with a willing spirit.
I will teach the wicked your ways,
that sinners may return to you.
Rescue me from violent bloodshed, God, my saving God,
and my tongue will sing joyfully of your justice.
(Psalm 51:11-16, Mass for the Day)
Study
For those of you who have hosted a special event, you know the odds are high that something will go wrong. A musician cancels out on a wedding ceremony with only days’ notice. The hotel burns down just before a grand kick-off gathering. A violent thunderstorm blows away the reception tent. And, of course, the cliché joke: what if I throw a party and no one shows up?
In light of last week’s grand jury report on the awful, decades-long crimes and sins in Pennsylvania, today’s Gospel made me want to weep. Jesus’ parable refers to the divine wedding feast yet I picture also a feast we have all been invited to through our Baptism, the feast of the Kingdom of God begun by the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ. The response to the invitation? Just as in the Gospel there are invitees who ignored the invitation or worse, set upon and destroyed sister and brother guests. Other attendees disrespect our host by refusing to wear the “wedding attire” of caring for vulnerable children beloved by God.
Pope Francis’ letter calls for solidarity with the abused and accountability of perpetrators for which I am grateful. But to be honest, I feel like a guest, enjoying the bread and wine is nearly impossible because of the violence in the Wedding Hall. Pope Francis’ words are a beginning. “Today we are challenged as the People of God to take on the pain of our brothers and sisters wounded in their flesh and in their spirit. If in the past, the response was one of omission, today we want solidarity, in the deepest and most challenging sense, to become our way of forging present and future history. And this in an environment where conflicts, tensions and above all the victims of every type of abuse can encounter an outstretched hand to protect them and rescue them from their pain (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 228). Such solidarity demands that we, in turn, condemn whatever endangers the integrity of any person. A solidarity that summons us to fight all forms of corruption, especially spiritual corruption. The latter is a comfortable and self-satisfied form of blindness. Everything then appears acceptable: deception, slander, egotism and other subtle forms of self-centeredness, for ‘even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light’ (2 Cor 11:14)’ (Gaudete et Exsultate, 165). Saint Paul’s exhortation to suffer with those who suffer is the best antidote against all our attempts to repeat the words of Cain: ‘Am I my brother's keeper?’” (Gen 4:9).[i]
Action
Truthfully, I do not want to forgive perpetrators or the institutional Church! I do not want to pray and do acts of penance or mortification for victims as the priests of our diocese have been asked by the Bishop to do. This was not my sin. Those I know who were personally harmed by abuse – and not in Pennsylvania! – deserve more.
I can, however, accept that I too am a sinner and I too have been invited by Baptism to the Feast of the Kingdom, a gift given to all, not just to me. My prayers, our prayers, our compassion toward victims, our refraining from naming certain groups as culpable with no evidence, our awareness that even if this has not been our sin, we are sinners too, is essential in sweeping clean the dining hall of the feast. We can assist in ensuring safety for all within its walls, all who wish to enter the doors. Our Host, our Lord’s Body and Blood remain the foundation on which even a cracked and weatherworn community builds.
Our community. We can be part of rebuilding rather than leaving it to a leading class. Speak with your pastor and Bishop about your vision for our Church.
Illustration: “And Jesus Wept”, St. Joseph Old Cathedral, Oklahoma City (across from the Edward R Murrow Memorial Site)
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