First Reading: Isaiah 25:6-10a
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 23:1-6
Second Reading: Philippians 4:12-14,19-20
Gospel: Matthew 22:1-14
The Kingdom of God is like a wedding feast. A wedding is always a joyful event. It is a festive occasion. Visitors attend in happy faces and they dressed in their best clothes. This is the meaning of the coming of the Kingdom of heaven where all people will be at their best and
joy will be the all-pervading feature. The coming of the kingdom will be a wedding in which
the will of God and man’s obedience form a joyful unity.
A special cause of joy for us is the awareness that God wants a full house, where
everybody is present. When the first invitation did not get a good response, the king sent his
servants with a follow-up call. He wanted everybody to be there. When the regular guests turned him down, he
looked for other people because he wanted all places to be occupied. God’s concern is salvation for everyone. Jesus does not see our religion as a burden, a joy-killer or a cause of sacrifice and pain, but as a great joy. The joy of God’s kingdom results from his commandment of love. It is a very special joy for us to know that God always gives us new opportunities.
Efren Tomas
In 2004, Father Efren arrived on Maui, Hawaii to be the Pastor of Christ The King Catholic Church in Kahului, Maui until 2012. He calls Christ The King his home because this was his first parish in Hawaii.
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