19th Sunday after Pentecost 3.10.10 All are called
We are all called to the Banquet, the Kingdom of Heaven.
Just about everyone would want to go to heaven but not everyone wants to be identified as a disciple of Our Lord. Yet to be a disciple is a requisite for reaching heaven.
Only through Him can we hope to be saved from eternal death. We either attend His banquet (eat His flesh) or we perish in the darkness.
Come to the Banquet is the same as Come, Follow Me.
It is a personal call that must be answered personally, on one’s own behalf.
People have a way of trying to deflect the demands of following Christ. Look what they say about ‘religion’. The adults say it is only for children (to teach them manners). The children say it is only for old people (especially grandparents). The men say it is only for women. The laity say it is only for priests and religious. The intellectuals say it is only for the ignorant. And so on. It seems everyone is trying to put the onus on someone else. But still He stands there, waiting for that answer.
The invitation is directed to each and every person on the earth.
We must commit, Yes or No.
It is possible to treat God like a distant cousin, someone we barely know; that we might meet on ceremonial occasions. Or to regard the worship of Him as an option, like a hobby; something we might get around to but probably not.
But He is not optional. His invitations amount to commands. There is a reward if we obey; punishment if we disobey.
We must commit. This does not necessarily mean we will have to sell our possessions and go around in poverty; but according to each one’s age and state we must do exactly as God asks us to do.
We are not all called to the same magnitude of holiness; but whether we have ten talents, five or one, we must make a return on what has been entrusted to us.
There is only Heaven and Hell ultimately; no middle ground.
If the good go to heaven and the bad to hell where does everyone else go? There is no one else. We are either for Christ or against Him! There is no third place. (Purgatory, yes, but that is only until the Last Day, and everyone there eventually goes to heaven).
Following Christ, coming to the Banquet, means belonging to the Church. The Church is not just a club that one can call in occasionally; pay a few dollars subscription, and use when needed. Many treat the Catholic Church in this light. But if we read the New Testament! The blandness of much of Church life is not foreshadowed there. We must regain and maintain that first intensity.
The Church has always been meant to take over the whole world and make it the kingdom of God.
So we retrieve the ‘radical’ understanding of the Gospel. Leave all else and follow Him. Leave all that is not of Christ, whether possession or attitude.
Back to basics: prayer, keeping His commands, confessing sins. Internal as well as external commitment. Not just ‘turning up’ but body and soul committed.
It is easier to be bad than good. If we make no response to His invitation it means we are bad. Holiness comes only through striving for it.
The enemy is complacency. There is no hell for those who are vigilant and positively seeking God.
But for those who are in slumber and refuse to wake up – there is danger.
Whatever is difficult can be made easy by sufficient grace from God. To believe this basic message, to commit to it fully, to persevere until the end – all this is within our grasp simply for the asking.
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