Isaiah 25:6-10 / Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20 / Matthew 22:1-14
Having a choice does sound so much more attractive and appealing than having no choice at all.
Somehow, we like choices. It is like going through the menu and looking at all the pictures of the scrumptious food.
But we know that we could only choose one item from the menu especially when there is some kind of special offer.
And especially when there is a special offer, all the choices look so attractive and appealing, but we can only choose one.
So as much as choices may make us feel like we are the masters, and that we are spoilt for choice, yet we also like slaves of choices.
We have become like the slaves of the choices and it takes so much of our time and thinking just to make one choice.
So, having too many choices may not be that attractive or appealing after all.
Today’s gospel parable sounds like an awkward story. It begins with a king who sent out invitations for the feast of his son’s wedding.
The awkwardness of the parable is that the invited guests would not want to go for the feast.
The parable goes on to say why they would not go for the feast. It was because they were not interested.
They had other personal things to do. One went out to his farm, another to his business and others even turned violent against the king’s servants.
And then, in place of the invited guests, others who were not in the original guest list were collected, literally collected, from the road-sides to be the guests at the wedding feast.
The parable does sound rather awkward, but just what is the parable telling us?
Among other things, it highlights the free-will to make a choice.
But it was not a choice between two equally desirable alternatives.
It is a choice for our destiny and also about our eternal destiny.
It may look like an obvious choice to make but actually it can be quite a challenging choice.
The 1st reading may give a clue as to why it could be quite a challenging choice.
The 1st reading begins with this: On this mountain, the Lord of hosts will prepare for all peoples a banquet of rich food and fine wines, food and wine which is rich and juicy.
If we were invited to such a banquet, and it is the Lord’s banquet, then obviously we would certainly want to go.
But then, it is high up on the mountain, and we think about the tiring climb up the mountain and our initial fervour begins to waver.
So even before setting off to the mountain, we already feel tired, and then other things begin to come in to distract us.
So, in the end like the invited guests in the parable, we lose interest and we may even say it is not worth it.
The month of October is dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary and also the month in which Our Lady made her last apparition at Fatima on the 13th of October.
The Rosary and the message of the Marian apparitions at Fatima point to prayer, penance and sacrifices so as to obtain God’s mercy for the salvation of souls.
It is not a new message and it has been a repeated message over the years.
It has been a repeated invitation to go up to the mountain of prayer and to obtain God’s blessings for ourselves and for the whole world.
And on that mountain of prayer, God will wipe away the tears from our eyes so that we can see that when we make the choice for God and for salvation, we will rejoice in His love.
With faith and perseverance, let us climb that mountain of prayer with penance and sacrifice. There is no other better choice.