THE BANQUET, THE FEAST AND A BOOKLET “I tell you, not - TopicsExpress



          

THE BANQUET, THE FEAST AND A BOOKLET “I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.” – Luke 14:24 One meeting, Bo Sanchez challenged us, ministry leaders, to approach people and invite them to The Feast, the Sunday prayer gathering he leads. For our guide, he suggested we use Love Someone Today, a booklet on discipleship which he wrote. As Bo spoke, I was like, “Naah, can’t do it.” I hardly invited people to The Feast because I hated rejection. But Bo boomed, “It’s OK to fail!” Oh, but I don’t have a copy of the booklet, I rationalized. When I got home, I forgot all about Bo’s challenge. My priority was to prepare my Journalism lectures. As I opened one book, ooops, something fell on the floor… a copy of Love Someone Today! So I do have a copy. Why should it pop up now? Well, OK. It’s a sign. I put the booklet in my bag. One day, I dared approach a coworker. She and her husband are now Feast attendees. In today’s Gospel, people have reasons not to attend the Master’s banquet. We can also have reasons not to dare invite people to The Feast. Too bad though, because they won’t get a taste of the happiest place on Earth! Chay Santiago (cusantiago@gmail) Reflection: Have you talked to someone about Jesus today? Lord, grant me the courage to stand up for You every day. GOSPEL What excuses have we used when we fail to follow where Jesus leads us? Let us not give excuses for our failings but admit them and then get on with making sure it is the last time we commit them. Let us seek the vision God has for our lives and do all that we can to attain it. God’s grace will do the rest. GOSPEL ACCLAMATION Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest, says the Lord. Luke 14:15-24 15 One of those at table with Jesus said to him, “Blessed is the one who will dine in the Kingdom of God.” 16 He replied to him, “A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many. 17 When the time for the dinner came, he dispatched his servant to say to those invited, ‘Come, everything is now ready.’ 18 But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves. The first said to him, ‘I have purchased a field and must go to examine it; I ask you, consider me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have purchased five yoke of oxen and am on my way to evaluate them; I ask you, consider me excused.’ 20 And another said, ‘I have just married a woman, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21 The servant went and reported this to his master. Then the master of the house in a rage commanded his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in here the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ 22 The servant reported, ‘Sir, your orders have been carried out and still there is room.’ 23 The master then ordered the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedgerows and make people come in that my home may be filled. 24 For, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.’” think: Let us seek the vision God has for our lives and do all that we can to attain it. Didache | Companion | Sabbath SABBATH SAINT CHARLES, THE CZAR OF THE PRIESTHOOD MINISTRY St. Charles, together with great figures of his time (St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Pius V, and St. Philip Neri), countered the Reformation of the Protestants. He pioneered the need for the clergy to undergo education and formation in preparation for priesthood. He fought for holy, good and quality priests. We should not wonder anymore why the Archdiocese of Manila named its seminary (San Carlos Major Seminary) after him. Now, more than ever, the faithful are very demanding of their priests. The onslaught of secularism, modernism and other “isms” are testimony to the growing awareness and aggressiveness of the faithful in their faith. They do not just accept things “hook, line and sinker.” They begin to question and they expect the Church to be responsive. St. Charles envisioned this and the Church is just too happy for this development. The baptized are also given the responsibilities to be priests, prophets and pastors or shepherds/kings. Priests, in the sense that they can lead in prayers and be given responsibilities in liturgies. Prophets, in the sense that they are expected to know, understand, live and witness to the Word of God. And pastors, in the sense that they are their brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, too. The Church is the entire People of God. We thank St. Charles for requiring future clergymen to be trained in prayer and apostolate. We need well-formed priests. It may be true that there are priests who, in spite of years of formation, had maligned and disgraced the priesthood. But that is precisely the Church — sinful and holy at the same time. With the help of St. Charles of Borromeo, let us pray for more priestly vocations. Let us pray, too, that the faithful will live their baptism — to be priest, prophet and king. In that way, all of us baptized, ordained and lay, will find our way to the Kingdom as promised by God. Fr. Benny Tuazon REFLECTION QUESTION: How are you living your being a priest, prophet and king? Thank You, Lord, for the foresight of St. Charles of Borromeo. I pray for Your priests — may they be holy as You are holy. And may they lead the faithful to the same holiness.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 22:49:20 +0000

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