Aug 21 – Memorial for St. Pius X, pope
St. Pius X (1835-1914) encouraged frequent Holy Communion. He reformed the liturgy, promoted clear and simple homilies, and brought Gregorian chant back to services. He also reorganised the Roman curia, the administrative elements of the Church, and worked against the modern antagonism of the state against the Church. His other contributions to the Church included: initiating the codification of canon law, promoting Bible reading by all the faithful, and supporting foreign missions. His will read: “I was born poor; I lived poor; I wish to die poor.”
- Patron Saint Index
Jgs 11:29-39
Mt 22:1-14
“The wedding is ready; but as those who were invited proved to be unworthy…”
I am a checklist person. I have checklists for tasks that I must do at work, lists for kid’s camp, holidays, shopping, meal plans, my future. It helps me to be prepared and be in control of a situation. Of course, I can’t control how everything turns out; but when it does get chaotic, my checklist helps me stay grounded. There is one thing that I don’t have a checklist for though – which I’ve realized while writing this reflection – and that is my journey with God. How do I create a checklist for that? It’s not difficult, I should think. The Bible presents many points that we should follow on how to live a righteous life according to God. Even God was big on checklists, remember the Ten Commandments?
It’s not that I’m tardy about doing that, it has just never occurred to me that maybe while I’m planning for things in this life, I should also plan on getting ready for the other life, the afterlife with Jesus. He has called me, and I have accepted Him, I’ve committed to going on this journey with Him, but I’ve not done any prep for it. It’s like saying I’ve been invited to visit my friend overseas, but I’m doing nothing and having no part in planning where we’ll go or how I’ll get there, and just expecting my friend to plan everything for me. Why should she though, since she has invited me, and I should be gracious to do my part if I accept it. In Singapore, we would say this quite colloquially, “You want to come, come; don’t want to come, done”. In other words, if you were interested to come, you’d be at least interested in preparing; but if you were not interested, then you shouldn’t bother coming.
Similarly, God has extended the invitation to Heaven to all of us, regardless of our backgrounds. He has prepared everything for us, but our disinterest frustrates Him. “If you’re not interested, then you’re not worthy of my feast,” He might be saying. And I would completely empathise with him. Using the example of a wedding feast which comes with certain protocol, it would be very disrespectful for the guest to be feigning ignorance of such things and not be prepared. In Jesus’ time, it was customary for the host of a wedding to provide wedding garments to the guests. The garments — while simple — allowed all guests to mingle and enjoy the celebration without worry about rank or station, since all the guests would be wearing the same thing. The garment represents the righteousness of God, purity of the wearer for a life lived according to God’s will and tenets. The inappropriately dressed guest would have been seen as turning up his nose on the idea of purity and equality, seeing his own rank (and righteousness) as superior to all other guests.
Again, using an analogy of a Chinese wedding banquet, if you were invited to a family wedding but brought no ‘ang bao’ (a red packet) in addition to dressing inappropriately, would it not show disrespect to the bride and groom and their families? Would it not project apathy on our part? And do you think we would be invited to any other wedding in future?
We are so fortunate to have an invitation to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. God has already prepared a seat for us. But will He find us worthy guests? Perhaps it’s time for us to draw up our checklists to ensure we are fully prepared.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Annette Soo)
Prayer: Lord, You have set out a roadmap for us through Your Word, that will ensure our place in Heaven with You. Help us to be mindful in preparing for that glorious moment with You, even as we prepare in our earthly daily lives.
Thanksgiving: Thank you, God, for this invitation to enter Your Kingdom! We pray that we will truly be worthy of it.
OXYGEN 
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