Heaven is a choice (HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II (QUEENSHIP OF MARY - AUGUST 22, 2024)

HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II (QUEENSHIP OF MARY - AUGUST 22, 2024)

Ezekiel 36:23-28; Ps.51; Matthew 22:1-14

Heaven is a choice

Today, Jesus continues his teaching on the kingdom of God using parables. Yesterday, he taught us that heaven is God’s generosity; it’s not something that we merit. Today, he is teaching us that though heaven is prepared for us, its existence is not dependent on us. Heaven needs us but it will not cease to be heaven without us.

Matthew tells the parable of the wedding feast to first assure the Jewish nations that they are the people of God. The Jewish nations, however, did not heed to God’s call through the prophets and now they even pay less heed to Jesus. But God’s plan will not fail. He will send his apostles to preach the Gospel in foreign lands so that non-Jews too may become members of the Church and candidates for heaven.

What becomes clear is that for us to be participants in the heavenly banquet, we must give our consent. Our consent is our readiness to share the life of God. Consent is given not only by participating but also by participating appropriately. In the parable, amongst the second group of invitees who honoured the invitation of the king, a man is present not putting on a wedding garment. It was not the case that this man was poor. In those days, it was customary to supply guests with the robes they would wear at the entrance of the banquet hall.

For the king to be angry at this man means that the man was provided with the robe but refused to put it on. Beloved, it is not enough that we belong to the Church, we must also put on the garment of righteousness – a life of justice, honesty and trustworthiness. There are many Christians in our society yet evil is on the increase. This means that many of us are attending the banquet but without our garment. It becomes easy to understand Jesus when he said that many are called but few are chosen. See, salvation is a matter between you and your God. The God who saves cannot be deceived by mere externals.

Today we celebrate the queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mary is queen not because she possessed the world but because she clinged so closely to God and remained committed to doing the will of God always. By earthly standard, she's no queen. But by her heavenly coronation, all shall call her blessed. Beloved, wait upon the Lord; his reward is always best. 

Remain blessed 🙌