Famished for the Feast

Staying hungry for our faith by the example of newcomers

08/23/2018

Matthew 22:1-14 Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and the elders of the people in parables saying, "The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come. A second time he sent other servants, saying, 'Tell those invited: "Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my alves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast."' Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then the king said to his servants, 'The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.' The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests.

A few years ago I read an impressive little book on immigration by President John F. Kennedy called A Nation of Immigrants. He recounts the history of the waves of immigrants who injected new enthusiasm into the American enterprise, namely, to start a new life and to discover the American dream. Sadly, for long-time Americans that dream had dimmed or even eroded into a nightmare. Our nation has always struggled between entitlement and entrepreneurship, and new immigrants always prefer a hand up instead of a hand out. I do not need to look any further than my own family where my parents worked tirelessly so their three children every night could slip into slumber with the American dream dancing in their heads.

John K. Kennedy was a Roman Catholic, so it is no surprise he speaks so eloquently about immigrants who were Irish and Italians and Hispanics. Listen to what Kennedy, an Irishman, said about American sentiment towards his own kinsmen. The thirty-fifth president wrote: “The Irish are perhaps the only people in our history with the distinction of having a political party, the Know-Nothings, formed against them…[and later] the Ku Klux Klan. The Irish found many doors closed to them, both socially and economically. Advertisements for jobs specified, ‘No Irish Need Apply.’ But there was manual labor to be done, and the Irish were ready to do it” (Nation, 17-18). In other words, immigrants always arrive on American shores with a huge hunger for the riches of the land symbolized by the cornucopia of plenty. But those who have been here a while seem to have lost their appetite for such blessings.

This is the same problem for the people in the parable that Jesus tells today. A king gives a wedding banquet for his son and wants to fill his banquet hall with guests. Those who are invited guests were the one closest to the king – family and friends who had already tasted everything at his table. They did not want to feed on his favors, so blithely ignored the blessing of this banquet. What, then, does the king do? He commands his servants: “Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.” And “the servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, good and bad alike, and the hall was filled with guests.” What an apt allegory for America today. Many of the invited – Americans who have been here for decades – ignore the blessings and bounty of this country. Those in “the streets,” the foreigner immigrants, however, cannot wait to find a seat at the table.

Of course, Jesus is not really referring to the situation in the United States, but to the Kingdom of God on earth, namely, the Catholic Church. How many “cradle Catholics” have abandoned the blessings of their birthright and no longer attend Mass? But what an inspiration to see new converts to Catholicism, like immigrants arriving on the shores of a new and wondrous land, eager to eat of its bounty. Something similar could be said of the clergy sexual abuse crisis. Some churchmen have succumbed to an entitlement mentality and instead of give to build up the Body of Christ, seek to take for their selfish pleasure. But new seminarians and priests feel righteous revulsion at such reprehensible behavior and approach the priesthood as a sacred trust and never to be taken for granted. Many younger Catholics are discovering the joy of discipleship as they watch Pope Francis model a new way to follow Jesus in humility, in poverty, in care for creation, and may I add, in welcome to the stranger on our shores, the immigrants? In a sense, these young Catholics, like the Irish fleeing the potato famine, are landing on the shores of the Church famished and ready for the feast.

My friends, let us never take our great and glorious faith for granted. Everyone is invited to eat of this feast of faith. Don’t be too busy for such blessings.

Praised be Jesus Christ!