The Catholic Calendar for Sunday, October 9, 2005
The Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Isaiah 25:6-10
Psalm 23:1-6
Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20
Matthew 22:1-14

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

“The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.... Many are invited, but few are chosen." (see Matthew 22:2 and 14 )

The wedding feast of the Kingdom is ‘the new and everlasting covenant’ into which God proposes to each soul eternal, beloving union in Him. Each soul is gifted with a ‘free will’ to consent, pledge one’s troth, and to be espoused to the Lord. The choice to accept this covenantal “proposal” from the Lord requires a corresponding and freely vowed, “I do”.

Many express disinterest in this “proposal” for eternal union with their BeLoved God, and although repeatedly invited, they choose to ignore, despise and dispose murderously of the life extended generously to them, preferring recreation, business, and anything else before God.

Thus, these invited are rebuked and punished and the invitation is extended to any that ‘will’ come, rich and poor alike. The only requirement is that one dress in the wedding garment supplied by the King.

Yet even in this generous invitation and providential ‘dressing,’ some choose to be indifferent and are likewise cast out in the darkness with those who first rejected the invitation.

O Lord, help us choose the great gift extended in Your proposed espousing. May we put on the garment of Your saving love, washed clean in Your sacrificial beloving, to be held, one in You, forever. May we seek Your bounteous mercy in confession and at each Mass as You belovingly ‘redress’ your beloved spouse, washing us more and more from our guilt, making us whiter than snow. May we wholeheartedly, freely, and worthily pledge our troth through Him Who is our salvation. Amen.

- Mary Williams
(www.impactbydesign.biz)