From the Gospel according to Luke 14:15–24
One of those at table with Jesus said to him, “Blessed is the one who will dine in the Kingdom of God.” He replied to him, “A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many. When the time for the dinner came, he dispatched his servant to say to those invited, ‘Come, everything is now ready.’ 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.’ And another said, ‘I have purchased five yoke of oxen and am on my way to evaluate them; I ask you, consider me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have just married a woman, and therefore I cannot come.’ 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.’ The servant reported, ‘Sir, your orders have been carried out and still there is room.’ The master then ordered the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedgerows and make people come in that my home may be filled. For, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.’”
Don’t Keep God Waiting
God the Father invites us to a life of feasting and joy, yet we reject His invitation, thinking we have a better plan, that our way of thinking is better than God’s, that our way of living is better than the life He offers us, and that our way of building our marriage is better than the one God intended for us… And yet, we are not happy! That is how the prodigal son ended up eating the food of pigs instead of enjoying the happiness of his father’s house! What a great mystery! The creature rejects its Creator. The son rejects his Father’s invitation. Imagine a father who has given all his love to his son and, longing to share all his happiness with him, prepares a great feast. Everything is ready, and he eagerly awaits his son’s arrival… but his son does not come. He has other things to do, other priorities. How deeply that father would suffer at his son’s rejection! The son believes he can achieve happiness on his own and fill his heart with joy. The same thing happens to us. We lose ourselves in worries, work, material possessions, and even human relationships in this world, while we leave God waiting and, with Him, our true happiness awaits. In our vocation to marriage, the Lord calls us to something wonderful: to receive that divine Love which the world cannot give us, so that we can give it to our spouse and thus share in a new life, the divine life. Let us not keep our Father waiting any longer! Let us receive His Love today and give it to our spouse today. The feast is already prepared!
Applied married life
Olivia and Brian are meeting with some couples they accompany and sharing their testimony with them.
Olivia: When we first came to Marital Love Project, our marriage was practically destroyed. We had spent more than ten years just surviving, without knowing how to get out of that situation.
Brian: And the worst part was that we thought the other person was the problem. I was convinced that if Olivia changed, we would be happy.
Olivia: And I thought exactly the same! We spent our days judging each other, making demands, and throwing things back in each other’s faces… We neither understood one another nor forgave one another wholeheartedly.
Brian: And yet, we went to Mass every Sunday…
Olivia: Yes, but we were living according to the world’s standards. Each of us was focused on ourselves, on our rights, and on what the other person was failing to give us. We didn’t know how to love!
Brian: Until we discovered that we were trying to live our marriage without God. We weren’t relying on His grace, seeking His perspective, or asking ourselves how Jesus would act in our place so that we could act as He would.
Olivia: We wanted to be happy, but we were rejecting the very Love that could make us happy. What a paradox! Just like the guests in the Gospel, who thought they had a better plan than their Father’s banquet!
Brian: And when we began to receive His Love and see each other as Christ sees us, everything started to change.
Olivia: We still have our weaknesses today, but we no longer want to live for ourselves. We want to learn to love as He does, and that is changing everything.
Brian: And we can assure you of one thing: there is no happiness comparable to the happiness the Lord is giving us in our marriage!
Mother,
Help us to never exchange the banquet of Love for the crumbs the world offers us. Praised be the Lord, who never tires of calling us!