Holy Wisdom Chapel
There is a common thread
in all three readings this morning.
First, Isaiah tells us of
God providing his chosen people all kinds of rich food—a real feast. The pall
of tears and disgrace would be lifted, and salvation granted to those who had
waited for the Lord. Who would not be joyful?
St. Paul found his
terrible heavy burden lifted, and he was able to hope that any other hardship
he endured would also be aided by God enabling him to be joyful and give thanks
to God.
Matthew was so joyful at
having been chosen by Jesus to follow him that he gave a great banquet. It must
have been an open-door policy. The pharisees and scribes were there, besides
many tax collectors and others from all walks of life. The pharisees and
scribes might not have been so joyful at being answered in the way Jesus
answered them by saying, in effect, “The righteous do not need me, but sinners
do, and when the bridegroom is present there is no fasting.” The others at the banquet had many reasons to
be joyful upon hearing Jesus’ answers.
A common thread through
all three is this: Be joyful in the lord!
Mother
Antonia Brenner spent 30 years in prison, although she had committed no crime.
Twice married and divorced, and having raised her seven children, she
determined to devote her life to the service of Jesus after he had appeared to
her in a dream. A priest invited her to help him in his prison ministry at La
Mesa in Tijuana, Mexico. It was an overcrowded prison that housed over 8
thousand inmates. Eventually Mother Antonia made private religious vows, and
obtained permission to live in one of the cells in the women’s section of the
prison. In the prison she walked freely among murderers, gang members, and other
desperate inmates. Her loving presence often quelled violence. Near her death
she said, “Happiness does not depend on where you are. I live in prison, and I
have not had a day of depression in 25 years. I have been upset, angry, sad,
but never depressed.” 1.
This is the kind of joy we
can strive for.
The third thing Jesus
said does not resound with any particular encouragement to be joyful: Don’t use
new cloth to patch an old garment, and don’t put new wine in an old wineskin. Jesus
is speaking not only to the pharisees who had disapprovingly asked him
questions, but to all the other people there, and to us.
Jesus was pleading that we not shut our minds
to new ideas. The Holy Spirit is ever leading us to be open to grow in truth
and wisdom. If we think we have the whole truth already, what would make us
keep looking and searching? We all need to make time in our lives to ponder the
mysteries of our faith. We don’t necessarily need heavy philosophical and
theological books for our meditations. Take the Apostle’s and Nicene creeds. Take
the Our Father, and ponder how we understand what any of these phrases means to
us now, as perhaps differently from when we first learned our faith.
Take time to spend in contemplation of the God
we have come to know. Perhaps the
creeds, the Our Father, and a few favorite prayers are all that some of us need
to spend our time well. If they are joyful throughout the day and night, no
matter what hardships and pleasures have come their way, they can be also
grateful to God for this grace. The rest of us need more to satisfy our longing
and searching. Flannery O’Connor
reflected that we live in a world
increasingly convinced that there is no ultimate divine source. Many people
are more concerned with the processes of consciousness than with the objective
world outside the mind. Our experiences of God come to us through our bodies,
through all of creation. Let us ponder well what our entire life means.
If, like St. Paul, life is so difficult we
feel like despairing, remember God is with us as we suffer. Nothing will befall us that will destroy us
if we can but trust in God’s goodness. In the meantime, pray that we may be joyful in the Lord.
God is with us!
1.
(From Blessed Among Us by Robert Ellsberg.)
