BANQUET THEOLOGY Homily by Fr. Michael A. Van Sloun Saturday, August 31, 2013, 5:00 p.m. Sunday, September 1, 2013, 8:30 and 10:30 a.m.

Transcription

1 THE TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME, Year C Sir 3:17-18,20,28-29; Ps 68; Heb 12:18-19,22-24; Lk 14:1,7-14 BANQUET THEOLOGY Homily by Fr. Michael A. Van Sloun Saturday, August 31, 2013, 5:00 p.m. Sunday, September 1, 2013, 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. Today let us begin the homily with a little reflection question. I would like to invite you to come up with an answer or two of your own. You don t have to raise your hand. You don t have to turn in an assignment. But you are more than welcome to offer your answers and observations. To begin, let us take a moment of thoughtful reflection. Q: When you think of Jesus and the gospels in light of all of the times you have spent time reading the gospels on your own, and all of the times you have heard the gospels proclaimed at Mass, and all of the homilies that you have heard preached, what kinds of things did Jesus like to do? A: Jesus liked to: work in the carpenter s shop; go on trips to Jerusalem; preach and teach; cure the sick; forgive sinners; pray by himself and with others; go fishing; invite people to follow him; spend quality time with his apostles. These are all great answers. They are all correct. In addition to all these things, Saint Luke makes careful mention of one other thing that Jesus liked to do: to eat and drink to party! Scripture scholars speak of Luke s Banquet Theology. Jesus liked to eat and drink so much that his adversaries called him a glutton and a drunkard (Lk 7:34). St. Luke portrays Jesus at dinner more than any other evangelist. 1

2 Here is a list of occasions when Jesus is involved with eating: Jesus attended a great banquet at Levi s home (Lk 5:27-32); Jesus dined at the home of a leading Pharisee (Lk 7:36); Jesus fed the five thousand (Lk 9:10-17); Jesus told his disciples to eat and drink what is set before them (Lk 10:7); Jesus had dinner in Bethany with Martha and Mary (Lk 10:38-42); Jesus dined with a second Pharisee (Lk 11:37); Jesus dined with a third Pharisee (Lk 14:1); Jesus told a parable about a wedding banquet (Lk 14:8-11); Jesus told a parable about invitations to a lunch or dinner (Lk 14:12-14); Jesus told a parable about the Great Feast (Lk 14:15-24); Jesus went to the house of Zacchaeus, presumably for dinner (Lk 19:5); Jesus ate the Passover dinner with his disciples (Lk 22:14-20); Jesus broke bread Cleopas and Simeon at Emmaus (Lk 24:30); and Jesus ate fish with his disciples in the Upper Room after his resurrection (Lk 24:41-43). Jesus really enjoyed eating and drinking. Jesus ate a lot. He liked good food. Jesus drank a lot, and not just water and milk. The wine flowed freely. Jesus was a fun guy, and he knew how to have a good time. Often when people describe Jesus, the description is very serious, somber, or pious. It is as if Jesus always had his hands folded praying, or always had a concerned look on his face as he counseled someone who was troubled or cured someone who was sick. I believe that Jesus smiled a lot! He had to have been a fun guy! I would bet that he laughed and joked around! If Jesus had been over-serious, he would not have attracted such large crowds and won over so many disciples. Part of his secret to success was that he was joyful (see Gal 5:22), happy and fun to be with. Jesus used stories about eating to teach, and today s gospel is a perfect example. Today s gospel mentions three different kinds of meals. Q: In the first parable, what was the extra-special kind of meal? A: A wedding banquet (Lk 14:8) 2

3 Q: In the second parable Jesus mentions two ordinary kinds of meals. Can you name one of them? A: Lunch and dinner (Lk 14:12). When it comes to these three dinners, a wedding banquet, lunch, and dinner, a wedding feast is obviously the best. If fact, for the average person, a wedding feast is the best banquet they will ever attend: the best food, the most food; the best wine, the most wine. Jesus liked to teach with metaphors or figures of speech, and these parables are perfect examples. Q: A wedding feast is the greatest of all feasts on earth. If a wedding feast is the best banquet in this life, what does it represent for the future? A: The eternal banquet in heaven. Now that we know that Jesus enjoyed eating and drinking, and that the wedding feast represents the eternal banquet in heaven, let s see who is invited. There are two invitation lists, each with four categories of people on the list. The first list is a normal list with typical good people. Q: Can you name one of the categories of people on the first invitation list? A: Friends, brothers (and sisters, siblings), relatives, wealthy neighbors (Lk 14:12). This is very Good News. All of these people are invited to the eternal banquet, the great feast in heaven. We are all hoping to go to heaven, and we will be accompanied by our friends, our brothers and sisters, our relatives, and our neighbors. It will be grand festive gathering, the angels and saints, not only around God s throne, but all seated together at the eternal banquet. 3

4 There is a second invitation list with four additional categories of people who are invited to the banquet. Q: Can you name one of the categories of people on the second invitation list? A: The poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind (Lk 14:13). During the time of Jesus, these four groups represented those people who are imperfect. The poor were imperfect financially. The crippled, the lame, and the blind were imperfect physically. Most were social misfits. They had made big mistakes along the way. Many were not very popular. For Jesus, when it comes to the eternal banquet, both the socially acceptable, the first list, and the socially unacceptable, the second list, are all on the invitation list to the Great Feast in heaven. There is Good News here! All of us have our imperfections. None of us are excluded. All of us are on Jesus invitation list for heaven! Jesus truly enjoys dining with his people, not only in heaven, but also on earth. Q: What great banquet on earth prefigures the eternal banquet in heaven and prepares us for the eternal banquet in heaven? A: The Mass. Yes, Jesus shares a great meal with us here at Mass, and he feeds us with two featured items on the menu: first, his word in Scripture, particularly his gospel; and second, his Body and Blood in Holy Communion. Jesus takes great joy in dining with us here at Mass, and Jesus is looking forward to the day when we dine with him in heaven for all eternity. And, let s not forget the invitation list, because everyone who is welcome in heaven ought to be welcome in this parish, in this church, and at the banquet of this Mass. 4

5 The first four on the welcome list are obvious and acceptable to us: our friends, our brothers (and sisters), our relatives, and our (wealthy) neighbors. We need to pay attention to the second list: the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the crippled those with imperfections, because Jesus came for everyone and everyone ought to be welcome for the banquet of this Mass. Jesus really enjoyed eating and drinking, so much so that he was accused of being a glutton and a drunkard (Lk 7:34). Jesus wants to dine with us, both in this life, but especially he wants us to accept his invitation to the greatest wedding feast where he hopes to dine with us in elegance for all eternity! 5