Welcome to the latest edition of the weekly Say Yes to Holiness newsletter—designed to help inspire, encourage and accompany you on the path towards holiness.
We are now in the Twenty-eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time, and as happens at this time of the liturgical year, we are beginning to focus upon the Last Things of death, judgment, Heaven and Hell. This is reflected in the parable that Jesus shared in the Gospel yesterday, about the wedding feast prepared by the King for his son to which he invited many guests to come and celebrate.
The problem is that the guests refuse to come.
They claim that they are too busy or beat up the servants sent to invite them or just ignore the invitation all together. Finally, the king sends his servants into the streets to invite anyone they encounter—good and bad, and they fill the hall. But as the king goes among the guests, he notices someone is not wearing a wedding garment and has them thrown out of the feast. Jesus ends the parable by telling us that many are invited, but few are chosen.
So, what to make of this?
Maybe it’s about the reality of the invitation to the wedding feast itself and whether we are ready to say yes? God wants all of us to be with Him in Heaven, and Jesus shows us this by pointing out that the Father in the parable invites everyone to the feast, and merely is waiting for out response.
But not just any response. Instead, we must be willing to enter the banquet prepared to celebrate and to be faithful to the One who invited us. This is what the journey towards holiness is all about.
So, this week’s Food for the Head, Heart, Hands and Feet will seek to inspire, encourage and accompany us in our pursuit to recognize the invitations God offers us, and learn to respond with our whole hearts, souls and minds, while preparing for the eternal wedding banquet during our journey towards holiness…
Food for the Head
"Every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before.” —C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, p. 92
C.S. Lewis tells us something vitally important for us to remember on our journey towards holiness and receiving a seat at the eternal banquet in heaven. The fact is that each time we make a choice, we are strengthening our capacity to make another one.
This is extremely important when we focus on the fact that when every one of us receives an invitation from the Eternal King, we have a choice as to whether we accept or refuse. Although many of us think that our daily choices are insignificant, that is not the case. Because our choices do have consequences.
Every choice we make about whether to spend time in prayer, or attend Mass, or forgive someone who has hurt us, or whether we will be generous with our time and resources all matter because each and every choice transforms us. .
It transforms us as we decide whether to do what God desires of us or to do what we want instead because each choice has us moving either closer to whom God created us to be, or moving further away from becoming that person. And this is how the wedding garment that Jesus speaks of is so important.
Because we cannot just show up in Heaven without allowing God’s grace to trasform us in the kind of person who belongs there. And this is where our choices each and every day come into play. For every choice we make to love, forgive, serve and follow Christ is an opportunity to be transformed and prepare our respective wedding garments.
So, what choices are you making?
This week, resolve to examine your daily choices and intentionally choose what will draw you closer to God.
Food for the Heart
"God walks into your soul with silent step. God comes to you more than you go to Him. Never will his coming be what you expect, and yet never will it disappoint. The more you respond to his gentle pressure, the greater will be your freedom.” —Blessed Fulton Sheen
Knowledge that God is constantly coming to me is an extremely encouraging thought, and Jesus highlights this persistence in the parable of the king who invites guests to the wedding feast of his son not only once, but over and over again. And even when they refuse, he issues invitations to others in order to fill up the banquet hall.
God does the same with us. He wants us to come to know Him, love Him, and be with Him throughout eternity, so He never stops asking us to enter into a deeper relationship with Him. And like Blessed Fulton Sheen tells us, this is because God comes to us more than we go to Him and is constantly seeking us.
I don’t know about you, but how often do we not recognize God’s invitation to draw closer?
All those unexpected encounters, or in the midst of our difficult circumstances, or through someone we would rather avoid. Or maybe we miss the invitations because we are too busy with our own plans and activities. Sounds just like the invited guests who said they had things to do on their farms and needed to tend their businesses, doesn’t it? But God doesn’t quit. He keeps coming to us with silent step with an invitation, and then He patiently awaits our response.
So the question before us is two-fold: Will we become attentive enough to recognize God’s invitation? And will we respond with a yes?
This week, resolve to spend time in silence each day, listening for God’s invitation and respond to His gentle promptings.
Food for the Hands
“What was the first rule of our dear Savior’s life? You know it was to do His Father’s will. Well, then, the first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God; secondly to do it in the manner He wills; and thirdly, to do it because it is His will.” —Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton gives us a blueprint for how we might go about preparing and then wearing our wedding garment. Do God’s will in the manner that He wills because it is His will.
Sounds fairly straightforward, but we know how difficult this can be because we often want to do God’s will—but only as long as it aligns with our plans. In other words, we want to sserve God, but only when it’s comfortable or convenient. Although we want to be holy, we don’t want to make the sacrifices that holiness requires of us.
How does this show up in our lives?
Like when we want to do something good, but we do it because it brings us recognition or because it makes us feel good. Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton challenges us to not just look at what we do, but also how and why we do it because holiness is not just about doing good deeds. Instead, it’s about being conformed to Christ.
Jesus’ entire life was directed towards doing His Father’s will—regardless of what was entailed. Even if it meant suffering, or rejection, or death on the cross. Our lives are to be spent preparing our wedding garment for the eternal banquet, and this happens through living a life transformed by grace that is made visible in love, obedience, and virtue.
So, do God’s will in the manner He will because He wills it so we can prepare our wedding garment God has entrusted to us each and every day.
This week, resolve to undertake your daily work according to God’s will, in the manner He desires, and because you love Him.
Food for the Feet
"My Lord, I offer you myself in turn as a sacrifice of thanksgiving. You have died for me, and I in turn make myself over to you. I am not my own. You have bought me; I will by my own act and deed complete the purchase.” —Saint John Henry Newman, Everyday Meditations, p. 135
The essence of the Gospel parable of the king and the wedding feast is what should our response be to the invitation?
Saint John Henry Newman tells us—offer ourselves completely.
So, not just offering our time, talents, and possessions. But offering our entire self—everything of who and what we are because we belong to God.
Jesus already showed us how to do this because He already has given everything for us.
Although the wedding feast in the parable points us towards the eternal banquet of Heaven, we have already been given a foretaste of that banquet—the Most Holy Eucharist.
Every time we participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we are saying yes to the invitation to enter into communion with Christ, the One who has given Himself completely for us. And when we receive Him, He gives us the grace we need to offer ourselves more completely in return.
But are we doing that? Are we coming to the Eucharist with hearts prepared to receive Him? And as we do, are we being attentive to the incredible gift being offered?
When we treat Mass as another obligation to fulfill before getting on with the rest of our day, or like we are doing God a favor by showing up in our prayer or by caring for our neighbor, we are being ungrateful servants who are saying no to the invitation.
Instead, as Saint John Henry Newman reminds us, our response to Christ’s sacrifice should be to offer ourselves as a sacrifice of thanksgiving by surrendering everything to Him. All our hopes, fears, relationships, ambitions, challenges, successes, disappointments and everything in between that comprises our lives.
There is no better place than at the altar of the Lord to receive His precious gift of Himself that He offers to us, as we offer our entire selves as our offering in return.
This week, resolve to prepare yourself more intentionally for receiving the Eucharist and offer your entire life to Christ as a sacrifice of thanksgiving.
One of the best ways to prepare my heart for receiving Jesus is by praying the Rosary. Mary models for us how to offer ourselves completely to God, just like she did. A favorite rosary podcast of mine is the Daily Rosary podcast by the School of Faith.
Exhortation
“The only person who is free is the one who lives for Christ.” —Saint John Chrysostom
Saint John Chrysostom reminds us that the ultimate purpose of our lives is to live for Christ. Because it is only when we live for Christ that we will become truly free.
Free from our attachments and selfishness and fears and anxieties—everything that may keep us from responding to God’s invitation to be with Him forever as the unique and unrepeatable saints God created us to be.
The wedding feast is ready and the invitations have been sent. The King now awaits our response.
Because receiving an invitation is not sufficient.
We also have to choose to accept it.
To do that, we must strive to be attentive to God’s presence in our lives along with His gentle invitations.
We must strive to do God’s will in the way that God desires out of love for Him.
We must offer ourselves completely, especially as we receive Him in the Most Holy Eucharist, and allow His grace to transform our hearts.
All of so we are ready to enter the eternal wedding banquet wearing our wedding garment.
The best news about all this is that God has provided us with everything we need.
His Church. The sacraments. The Holy Spirit. His own Son.
And we have the freedom to make the choice.
So, how will we use that freedom?
Will we say YES and choose to become the person God created us to be and be clothed in our wedding garments of holiness?
Or will we ignore the invitation because we are too busy?
The choice is ours to make every single day.
So choose wisely.
May each of us do WHATEVER IT TAKES this week to respond wholeheartedly to God’s invitation as we prepare ourselves for the eternal wedding banquet, so together we can tell the Master of Death, “NOT TODAY!”
All the best,
Christina
PS—If you haven’t already, go check out my latest book, Solving the Parish Puzzle: One Person, One Disciple, One Leader at a Time. It is available for purchase on Amazon.
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Latest episode of the Say Yes to Holiness podcast...
Episode #267
“Where Wonder Leads: Finding God Through Story and Imagination--1:1 Conversation with Author Eric Clayton”
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Episode #267
“Where Wonder Leads: Finding God Through Story and Imagination--1:1 Conversation with Author Eric Clayton”
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Update from The Catholic Leadership Puzzle
Here is the latest podcast on The Catholic Leadership Puzzle for your listening pleasure:
Solving the Parish Puzzle is now available as an Audiobook on Audible!
Have Christina guide you through her latest book!
After several months of work, my latest book, Solving the Parish Puzzle, One Person, One Disciple, and One Leader at a Time, is now available as an audiobook on Audible!
Just like the book itself, the audiobook allows me to personally guide you through the concepts of the book, and share why so many parish renewal efforts are falling short despite good intentions, dedicated leaders and numerous programs.
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