COMMENT ON THE LITURGY OF THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
Collect
O Lord, who never failest to help and govern those* whom thou dost bring up in thy stedfast fear and love; Keep us, we beseech thee, under the protection of thy good providence, and make us to have a perpetual fear and love of thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Readings
1 Gv 3:13-24; Lc 14:16-24
Comment
"Do not be surprised if the world hates you" says the evangelist John, echoing the words of Jesus: "If the world hates you, know that it hated me before you". The hatred of the world manifests itself as the rejection of light by the darkness: "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (Jn 1:5).
We have an example of the world's rejection of light - that is Christ - in the parable of the great banquet. Jesus offers this story in response to what a man who was listening to him preach exclaims: "Blessed is he who will eat bread in the kingdom of God." This bliss, the Lord teaches us, is not understood by many. God invites us for free to his banquet, but the obsession for possession, trade, and the attachment to things or persons can become an obstacle to communion with him.
Thus the protagonists of this Gospel parable: the first has just bought a farm and has to go and see it; the second has bought a pair of oxen and wants to try it out; the third has just taken a wife. But Jesus admonishes us: "'If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple'" (Lk 14:26), while in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus always states: "'Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me'" (Mt 10:37).
Certainly, God, who commanded to love the father and the mother (Ex 20:12), does not ask us to deny them. But Jesus radically questions the ancient Law to bring it to completion: human relationships must be organized under the ordering principle of God's love.
Today's readings remind us of the two great commandments for the Christian: love of neighbor, especially of the brother in need, and love of God, above all else. And the parable of the great banquet expresses the community and liturgical dimension of being a Christian: participation in Sunday worship is not an accessory in the life of the believer. Many Christians think they can cultivate an individualistic relationship with Christ. Business, and family commitments, are the most frequent excuses that many find for not sanctifying the day of the Lord. And to them, Jesus says: "'not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet'" (Lk 14:24).
If Jesus' parable was directed above all to the part of Israel that had rejected his message, now addressed to pagans and to all distant peoples, we often find this guilty indifference among Christians themselves, especially in countries where the first evangelization dates back to a more remote age and the souls of believers have become stiff.
Many see themselves as members of a people elected for purely nominal Church membership. Let us not forget that God is ready, at any moment, to address his invitation to the feast to those who are far away, to people considered "on the margins" of the world but who show themselves ready to welcome the Gospel with enthusiasm. God can generate children of Abraham - true believers - even from stones (Lk 3:8); Let us make our own the psalmist's exhortation: "Today, if only you would hear his voice, Do not harden your hearts" (Ps 95:8).
- Rev. Dr. Luca Vona
