The WORD in other words (2010) by Fr Ernesto Laguna SVD – University of San Carlos, Cebu
Thursday 20th Week in Ordinary Time
The Son of God came to dwell among us to invite us to share His divine life. His invitation is addressed to all men and women. How many accepted His invitation? Like those invited by the king at the wedding feast of his son, many of us ignored God’s invitation to His kingdom. And some did not even know that there is that invitation.
His invitation is given to all without discrimination. It is then not surprising that in a Christian community, we find members of all kinds and of every sort personality. Many of those who accepted His invitation, to use the Gospel word, come to the feast without the proper wedding garment. Indeed, accept the invitation of Jesus to His kingdom but we do not want to follow His teaching and keep his commandment of love.
If we are truly the disciples of Jesus, we must be committed to Him. We can not just pay lip service to our discipleship. We can not proclaim ourselves us Christians and in our daily life, we go on our merry way: doing what we want to do without regard of what happens to the other person, seeking for the joys of living but not caring and showing concern for the good of the others? Jesus says that the one commandment He gives us is the commandment to love. Besides, the Gospel pursues justice and truth, and leans towards the marginalized (Matthew 25).
Translating this in today’s Gospel narrative, to accept the invitation of Jesus to the Kingdom of God is to live a life of love. We must love God above everything else and love our neighbors as we love ourselves, and seek the welfare of the neglected ones.
