COLLECT: “O GOD, WHO MADE OF THE ABBOT SAINT BERNARD A MAN CONSUMED WITH ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE AND A LIGHT SHINING AND BURNING IN YOUR CHURCH, GRANT, THROUGH HIS INTERCESSION, THAT WE MAY BE ON FIRE WITH THE SAME SPIRIT AND WALK ALWAYS AS CHILDREN OF LIGHT. THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, YOUR SON, WHO LIVES AND REIGNS WITH YOU IN THE HOLY SPIRIT, GOD, FOR EVER AND EVER. AMEN”.
Ez 36:23-28; Ps 50:12-15,18-19 and Mt 22:1-14.
St. Bernard was popular and dominated the century in which he lived. He became a monk and soon became an abbot. He was a man of outstanding spirituality, and he encouraged his monks toward holiness. He wrote a lot about the Lord Jesus, spirituality, the Scriptures and the Blessed Mother Mary. He influenced Popes and Kings at his time, and he travelled throughout Europe, healing divisions in the Church of his day.
Accordingly, St. Bernard had it that, “A person who prays carelessly, and yet expects his prayers to be heard, is like a man who pours bad grains into the mill, but expects to receive good flour in return”. If I will be permitted to add my own, I will say, ‘A person (a leader) who behaves carelessly or “any howly”, and yet expects people or his followers to respect and honour him/her is like a man who sows bad grains and expects a bumper harvest’ (Fr. Aloysius Kpiebaya).
The human life on earth is flooded with, so to speak, the Lord’s “unlooked-for generosity”. The Lord’s “unlooked-for generosity” is in the sense that the Lord has been doing a lot of generous things for us, which, in fact, most of us do not always and usually ask for from him. Therefore, we usually take things for granted. A few examples could suffice: The life we enjoy every day is the Lord’s generous blessing, which most of us do not always ask for. We take it for granted. Others are good health, healing and cure from our sicknesses, knowledge, wisdom, intelligence and understanding, natural food and drink, oxygen; you could count them.
This is the picture and message today’s scriptures present before us. Through Ezekiel, the Lord promises to bring the exiles back to their own homeland. In his own generous way, the Lord will do that for his people. We see clearly the Lord’s “unlooked-for generosity” in the parable of the Wedding Dinner. No criteria are used to invite the people to the feast. The King, representing the Lord, generously invites them.
Most of them turn down the invitation, and as if that is not enough, they mistreat and mishandle the Lord’s servants (God’s prophets) whom he sends out to bring the invitees in. All the same, common folk are eventually brought in to partake in the Lord’s generosity. One person among the common folk, however, takes things for granted and does not even make the barest minimum effort and preparation to enjoy the banquet to the full.
To enjoy the Lord’s superabundant “unlooked-for blessings” he has been generously lavishing upon us, we also, on our part, need to make little/minimum efforts, do what is necessary and needed in our lives as believers/Christian, and leave the rest with the Lord. While a lot of us take things for granted, some of us do not even think or remember that we need to do something about the Lord’s generosity toward us.
We need to do something daily about our lives, put a bit of order and sanity into our lives and wear our garments for the heavenly banquet. No wonder, a lot of us miss the Lord’s generous blessings every day, because we are not able to do our part. Some of us either lack faith in the Lord, or we have little faith in him.
Thus, while some of us mar ourselves with idolatry, others disobey the Lord and do not observe his decrees and statutes. These strip us of the Lord’s wedding garment. Let us pray that the Lord may take away our stony and sinful hearts and give us natural hearts that will be receptive to his statutes, ordinances and decrees. May he put his spirit within us and make us live a righteous and worthy life, which will signify our wedding garments for the Lord’s banquet. May Saint Bernard intercede for us. Stay blessed and happy feast to all who bear the name Bernard.
WE MEDITATE TODAY, THURSDAY, ON THE MYSTERIES OF LIGHT: ‘THE BAPTISM OF JESUS, THE WEDDING AT CANA, THE PROCLAMATION OF THE KINGDOM, THE TRANSFIGURATION, AND THE INSTITUTION OF THE EUCHARIST’. (WE PRAY FOR OPENNESS TO THE HOLY SPIRIT, PRAY TO JESUS THROUGH MARY, FOR REPENTANCE AND TRUST IN GOD, THE DESIRE FOR HOLINESS, AND WE PRAY FOR THE SPIRIT OF ADORATION) “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen”.
PRAYER: “MAY THE FAITH WE HAVE RECEIVED, O LORD, AS WE HONOUR SAINT BERNARD, WORK ITS EFFECTS IN US, SO THAT, STRENGTHENED BY HIS EXAMPLE AND INSTRUCTED BY HIS TEACHING, WE MAY BE CAUGHT UP IN LOVE OF YOUR INCARNATE WORD. WHO LIVES AND REIGNS FOR EVER AND EVER. AMEN.”
Rev. Fr. Aloysius Kpiebaya, Catholic Diocese of Wa, UW/R, Ghana. (00233) 0207867239/0545462863. Email: aloybaya20@yahoo.com.
No comments yet. Be the first to comment!