All three of the readings for Mass today, and the responsorial psalm as well, have to do with feasting and an abundance of God’s blessings. Our Creator loves His children as only a Father can. How beautiful are the readings for Mass today, because they are saturated with God’s love for His people!
God knows how to show His love for us in concrete ways that address our very human needs for companionship, joy and friendship. All of the readings today reflect this sense of community, celebration, and joy – to the point that your heart is full to overflowing. It makes you happy just to read these words. They are so healing. We all long to be included, accepted, loved, and welcomed. We would like to be treated with dignity and respect, and the scriptures today show us that God wants this for us as well.
So, what happened? Why do we feel so empty inside sometimes? We waste so much of our lives feeling afraid, anxious, stressed, tired, angry, discouraged, sad or depressed. What is it, that is literally killing our joy? This one sentence is worth reflecting on for the rest of the day today, and it is well worth repeating:
“What is it, that is literally killing our joy?”
When did the joy evaporate in our lives and dark clouds creep in, in its place? How did it happen that the simple pleasures of life got put on the back burner and everything became so complicated? We work, work, work, to be happy, but end up more miserable than we were when we were young and we didn’t have very many material possessions. Older married couples sometimes look back to the early years of their marriage and realize that they were happier when they were poor! It sounds funny, but really it isn’t.
Happiness, friendship, love, companionship and joy is a choice. We cannot buy joy. Sure, everyone loves a new car, or a new computer, a newer smart phone, a new home, etc. These things do make us happy – but it is short-lived. The fun wears off after a while.
Married couples go through a honeymoon phase when their marriage is new and they are ecstatically happy as newlyweds, but this infatuation eventually wears off and reality sets in for the long-term. There are many people in the world, both men and women that are constantly seeking the “high” feelings of infatuation, and they go through multiple relationships trying to retain the emotional high of a new romance. This is not genuine love though. Infatuation isn’t authentic love.
This same principle applies in all the other things we “love” in life too. Eventually the newness wears off and we settle into a certain routine in our lives. Our new car slowly ages. The enthusiasm of our new job wears off and the job isn’t what we thought it was going to be at first. New babies become toddlers that are expensive to take care of and a lot of work. We begin to worry about having enough money to take care of our families. But, then, we begin to earn more money and start acquiring things and before you know it, it takes a lot more money just to live. So we accept higher paying jobs and this cycle can escalate into a deep state of stress, depression, loneliness and unhappiness if we aren’t careful.
This is how we are robbed of our joy. The king invited many guests in today’s gospel, but they refused to come, or ignored the invitation and went away. Most of the people went to their business or their home to take care of work and chores instead of celebrating with the king over his son’s marriage. This is how the joy is drained out of our lives. We feel pressured to work harder to provide nice things for our families, or to maintain a certain lifestyle and before you know it, we forget how to simply live. It’s all about work, chores, responsibilities, or our “to do list”. We are lucky if we have a few minutes in the evening to just relax for a moment before retiring for the day.
There are many ways to interpret today’s readings for Mass, but one way of looking at them is that we are too busy to enjoy life. Life itself. Our possessions and our lifestyle, can become so demanding that we rush from one activity to the other without being able to devote the proper time and attention to things that are important. We forget to mail a birthday card, or that it is your anniversary for an example. Then you only remember it when you see your friend or loved one in person.
This is what happened to the man in today’s gospel today too. He showed up for the wedding feast without a wedding garment. Since he showed up unprepared for this special occasion, it showed a lack of respect for the king. So the king had him bound hand and foot and thrown out of the banquet into the dark, where there was wailing and grinding of teeth.
We too, will lose out on some of the happiest experiences of our life, in our personal relationship with God, Jesus, and our family and our friends, if we put other things before them. You can’t get the time back. When it’s gone, it’s gone for good. Parents who put in too many hours at work to provide for their financial security, may wake up one day and their children are grown and gone in the blink of an eye. Time passes so quickly.
The same thing can happen to our marriages, friendships, and our relationship with Jesus Christ too. Our lives are really but a passing moment, and each and every moment of our life is precious. Sometimes you just have to stop and smell the roses. In a nutshell, that is what the scriptures were all about today.
Sunday Mass Readings:
Isaiah 25: 6-10a / / Psalm 23 / Philippians 4: 12-14, 19-20 / Matthews 22: 1-14
