A Letter from Fr. Paul - October 15, 2017

Congratulations to Br. Silas Henderson SDS who professed his first vows as a Salvatorian on October 11 here at St. Pius. We thank you for sharing your gifts with our community and we accompany you in prayer as you live out your commitment.

Two reminders: our sister parish collection will close this week; if you haven’t yet contributed, please do so ASAP. And I invite you to sign up for the four weekly sessions on Exploring the Mass with Br. Silas which begin on October 26.

In our first reading from Isaiah, we hear all-inclusive words five times (all people, all people, all nations, every face, whole earth). In the short second reading from Philippians, all-inclusive words appear four times (every circumstance, all things, all things, fully supply). In the Gospel, the servants go out to the highways and byways to invite ALL to the wedding banquet (after the original invitees blew off the king and his invitation). There is no doubt that the scriptures are telling us that ALL are redeemed by Jesus and invited to the Kingdom.

But it is not a “get out of jail free” card for everyone. There is a catch: we need to have on our wedding gown. When we hear the Gospel, it sounds odd: if the guests were invited in from the highways and byways, how could they have a wedding garment? But the reality is that wedding garments were handed out at the door to those who did not have one, so the guest who was not wearing one had no excuse: he chose not to wear it.

The point for us is this: we have been invited to the heavenly banquet, but we need to cooperate. We are given the Gospels, the Community, the Sacraments, etc., to help us know how to live. If our lives are clothed in the proper apparel of faith, hope, love, forgiveness, tolerance and all the virtues of the Christian life, we will fit in perfectly at the wedding feast, for we will be properly dressed. Let us support each other with example and prayer, as we strive to grow in our ability to live Gospel values.

-- Paul James Portland, SDS