Scripture for Mass
Isaiah 25:6-10a
Psalm: 23(22): 1-3a. 3b-4. 5. 6. Response: 1
Philippians: 4:12-14, 19-20
Matthew 22:1-14
Even in countries where there is widespread poverty, wedding celebrations are often magnificent occasions, since families make great sacrifices to ensure that there will be an abundance of food and drink. Such abundance is associated with hospitality, enjoyment and blessings.
Jesus’s presence and magnificent contribution at the wedding feast of Cana can be seen as an expression of his desire that the bride and groom, as well as their families and friends, experience such hospitality, enjoyment and blessings.
The miracle at Cana can also be viewed as a celebration of Jesus’s public ministry in which God and humankind were united in love, heaven and earth were wedded – resulting in an abundance of blessings and joy being unleashed upon our world.
Therefore, throughout his ministry, Jesus frequently compared the reign of God to a wedding feast. Moreover, he not only spoke about the similarities, but demonstrated through his ministry how God’s hospitality to the poor, the sick and the sinners brought great joy and blessings into their personal life as well as to their extended family and community.
Jesus wanted every person to share in the abundance of God’s gifts. He consistently decried greed, emphasized justice, and demonstrated generosity. Like St. Paul, sometimes in his need, he came to experience God’s goodness through the compassion, generosity and hospitality of others.
However, throughout their public ministry, both he and St. Paul ‘learned the secret of facing hunger and plenty, abundance and need’ without complaint (Phil. 4:12). Like the young couple and guests at the wedding in Cana, they too came to discover that God’s mysterious hospitality, blessings and joy come in abundance only when one’s own wine has run out.
Bountiful God, we thank you for your repeated invitation to us to attend the wedding banquet which you yourself have prepared.
Thank you for making us members of your family and welcoming us to this feast in your own home.
Thank you for providing us with an abundance of rich food and fine wine in our Eucharistic celebration.
Thank you for you love and mercy, your forgiveness and fidelity.
Fill our hearts with appreciation, our souls with trust, and our lives with peace.
May we learn to rely on your providence, confident that your abundance shines forth even in our nothingness, and your blessings even in our emptiness.
We ask this through Jesus, our Master Chef and Waiter.
Amen
Fr. Tim Mulroy
