BE A NATURAL

When certain routines become embedded in us, we carry it out so naturally like waking up, taking a bath, eating our meals, going to work and sleeping. Everything becomes automatic, it requires lesser effort to do it over a period of time.  We marvel at how some athletes do their thing, excel in their field of expertise and win a gold medal. Some simply put it as born talent coupled with long years of hard work, discipline and dedication. I just realized that the same thing can happen to us if we will daily commit our lives to God. Living a life of a Christian may not be easy but if we try to develop a habit out of it then eventually it will just come out naturally. As natural as breathing, we die once we stop doing it while holding on to this promise that God gave us in today's 1st reading. We should be aware of this truth that we are born with it. Hey! We've got talent to win the gold in God's Olympics. Amen. Hallelujah!

Ezekiel 36:23-28

...26 I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts. 27 I will put my spirit within you and make you live by my statutes, careful to observe my decrees.

As we strive to nurture a heart that beats for God alone we also go through a process of cleansing as stated in the psalm today. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 51:12-13, 14-15, 18-19R: I will pour clean water on you and wash away all your sins.10 [12] A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me. 11 [13] Cast me not out from your presence, and your Holy Spirit take not from me.

No matter what our circumstances are in life, let us not ignore or take for granted God's open invitation to all of us. Life is like a banquet, and we have all been invited to take part in it but like any other invitations they do not last forever. We are invited into the kingdom of God. We are adopted into God’s family. When we become part of the family of God we have been made an heir to the Kingdom. In the 3rd chapter of the Apocalypse verse 20 the Lord said ““Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, [then] I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me.” We may have seen this portrait of our Lord knocking at the door but is unable to open it. Only we could open that door because the latch is in the inside. Let us not be deceived into believing that there are still other things worth more than taking part in God's banquet and be fully prepared for it. In today's gospel, the feast is ready but those who were invited refused to come. God is constantly inviting us but we always have excuses and other things to do. Daily, God sends us an invitation to come to Him. Sometimes we miss the opportunity whenever we fail to recognize the many chances He has given us. And when we do respond to God and accepts His invitation we sometimes take it for granted and do not realize the need to make ourselves presentable before God. Not so much of our external appearance as suggested in today's gospel but more of our inner selves and what we have made of our hearts. We are distracted and take for granted what clearly should take first place and priority in our lives. Time will come when the time for the invitation will cease and if ever we decide to come it is already too late. Our souls need to be properly dressed for that final and main event. In the story someone is found not wearing the wedding garment. We must put on Christ. In 1 Cor.13 4-7 it is written, “Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” Christ is love and all these things and we must substitute it with our names. This is the garment that we must wear in order to be adopted sons and daughters of God. We pray that the Lord will give us strength to love and hope that the Lord is our final glory. Let's not delay any longer before we find ourselves no longer welcome in God's presence. Let us be counted among the invited and chosen. We should all prepare, look forward and be ready for that day when we come face to face to God and become heirs of His kingdom. Let us not forfeit or lose our rightful place as a child of the God Most High. Amen. Hallelujah!

Matthew 22:1-14

1 Jesus again in reply spoke to them in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. 3 He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come...‘The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. 9 Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.’ 10 The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests. 11 But when the king came in to meet the guests he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment. 12 He said to him, ‘My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?’ But he was reduced to silence. 13 Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’ 14 Many are invited, but few are chosen.”