Fire up Chips! This past week was homecoming week at Central Michigan University (CMU), so there was feasting and celebrating over here at college (actually, I went home for the weekend, but you know how homecoming typically goes). That included fundraisers, games, parades, tailgates, and of course, the big football game, which was this past Saturday: CMU vs. Toledo! We lost...FYI...but still, Fire up Chips (Another FYI: Our mascot is the Chippewas--Chips for short)! Call it a coincidence or a Godincidence, but this past weekend's Gospel reading was all about Jesus getting fired up for a ginormous feast! Thing is, our homecoming festivities come and go. We fire up about it and then we lose (or sometimes we win) and that's that. It ends. What about a feast--a celebration--that never ends! How about a never-ending party? How about a never-ending wedding feast? Sign me up! In this past Sunday's Gospel, Jesus speaks in a parable, in which a king invites honored guests to his son's wedding feast (see the verbatim reading below). However, the guests don't come! Instead of attending the feast, one guest goes to tend his farm and another to his business. The king is pretty disappointed by this, but says something like, "Okay. Those who were invited to the feast I'm holding for my son have not come, even though everything has been prepared for them. I've killed all of these fattened calves and they are going to be delicious, so there is no way I'm letting them go to waste!" So, the king sends his servants into the streets to invite whomever they find to the feast! Next, bad and good alike fill the banquet hall for the feast. Let's put this parable in real-life terms because parables are just mini reflections of real, big concepts. The king is God the Father. The son is God the Son (aka Jesus). The wedding feast is heaven (and remember, heaven starts now!). The fattened calves are all of the abundant fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit--all of the goodness of God--the Good News. The servants are you and me! The honored guests that were originally invited are people who have heard the word of God but have chosen their work or busy life instead. So the guests in the street that the servants are told to invite are all of the people we see! The bad and good alike. That includes the classmates, the weird, the cool, the scholars, the cheaters, the drop-outs, the annoying, the good friends, the not-so-good friends, the stupid, the wise, the nerdy, the boring, the successful, the failures, the arguers, the fake, the outcasts, the bullies, the bullied, the loners, the disgusting, the clean, the smelly, the lazy, the picky, the humble, the proud, the controllers, the prisoners, the dying, the abused, the abusers, the hurt, the molesters, the majorities, the minorities, the stuck-up, the advanced, the beginners, the powerful, the privileged, the polytheists, the monotheists, the non-believers, the different denominations, the natives, the foreign, the unfamiliar races, the invaders, the free, the slaves, the coworkers, the employers, the employees, the peace-makers, the violent, the captors, the invaders, the outgoing, the shy, the large, the tall, the short, the small, the lovers, the haters, the prissy, the protectors, the enemies, the rich, the poor, the parents, the children, the cousins, the grandparents, the grandchildren, the siblings, the aunts, the uncles, the nieces, the nephews, the babies, the elderly, the fetuses, the young adults, the teenagers, the preteens, the middle-aged, the brain-dead, the enemies, the alcoholics, the addicted, the shouters, the athletic, the strong, the weak, the arguers, the defensive, the over-confident, the awkward, the religious, the holy, The killers, the shooters, the terrorists, the criminals, the captors, the liars, the homeless, the famous, the liberal, the conservative, the presidents, the penitents, the enthusiasts, the teachers, the ugly, the pretty, the suicidal, the live-life-till-I-die-ers, he rapists, the raped, the strippers, the thieves, the lustful, the creepy, the modest, the fundraisers, the self-less, the prostitutes, the gluttonous, the extremists, the crazies, the servants, the veterans, the dirty, the risky, the cashiers, the cougars, the money-hunters, the cowards, the greedy, the followers, the leaders, the healthy, the ill, the females, the males, the heterosexuals, the homosexuals, the bisexuals, the asexual, the healers, the fighters, the attackers, the disabled, the soldiers, the pest-controllers, the garbage men, the assistants, the cashiers, the policemen, the professionals, the sales-clerks, the cleaners, the assistants, the doctors, the nurses, the waiters, the cooks, the guides, the drivers, the creators, the performers, the bank-tellers, the secretaries, the lawyers, the care-givers, the workaholics, the shopaholics, the gossipers, the mean, the nice, the jobless, the stressed, the talkers, the listeners, the competitors, the oblivious, the silent, the prejudiced, the merciless, the dangerous, the opposers, the pornographers, the masturbaters, the gamblers, the unfaithful, the liars, the cheats, the gangs, the cliques, the silent, the dying, the traditionalists, the philosophers, and the one's who turned town the first invitation! I honestly could keep going, but I have to stop somewhere. (I apologize, I'm in my poetry unit in my creative writing class and the words just keep coming). If you read all of that or if you didn't, I think you get my point. Invite anyone and everyone--no exceptions or rejections. EVERYONE. The good and bad alike. So, join me in inviting people to this awesome wedding feast. Get fired up! You don't have to say, "Dude, I noticed you're mean and annoying. Well, it just so happens that my God and King wants me to invite even people like you to His wedding feast." Please don't say that. What I mean is, let us act like the servants of a great king. Invite with a smile. Tell all people the Good News by our loving actions. Don't be afraid of small-talk. Let's be gracious, courteous, conscious, and wholeheartedly invested in whomever we see, because they are chosen guests at the heavenly wedding feast. Thank you USCCB for posting this past week's gospel passage (this is the shortened version): Matthew 22:1-10 Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and elders of the people in parables, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come. A second time he sent other servants, saying, 'Tell those invited: "Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast."' Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he 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."
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AuthorJacqueline St. Clare: I spent six months in a cloistered convent, and now I'm a college student! Archives
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