Tuesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
St. Paul’s words to the Romans teach us that the Lord’s same love is given to each person. That same love is received and lived according to different states in life, and out of that divine love, we are called to respond to circumstances which range from causes for rejoicing all the way to enduring affliction and persecution. How should we describe the foundation of our life in the midst of such varying circumstances? We should admit, with the psalmist (who certainly lived through both good times and bad) that the Lord’s love gives us a peace that is personal, a peace that is not found except in His person: “In you, O Lord, I have found my peace.”
The invitation to enter into this divine relationship is always given by God, but there are so many ways to neglect the invitation, as we hear in the Gospel, “one by one they began to excuse themselves . . .” (Lk 14:18) We are tempted to think that possessions can replace the royal invite (“oxen”), we think that personal relationships are zero sum matters, that there is not room for the divine in our family life, or no room for our family life in the divine (“just married”). Such temptations to settle for a godless emptiness are only matched by the Lord’s desire that His banquet hall be filled up. He tells the servants, “Go out quickly to the streets and alleys of the town … Go out to the highways and hedgerows and make people come in that my home may be filled.” (Lk 14:21,23) Where do we find our peace? Where are we looking? Do we realize Peace himself is looking for us, is inviting us and all to feast with Him?