11 October 2020
Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
“I can do all things in him who strengthens me.”
St. Paul, in today’s second reading, says that he has, “learned the secret of being well fed and of being hungry, of living in abundance and of being in need.” What a great summary of both the Gospel and the First Reading. In the first reading, the people in exile – a people who are intimately acquainted with hunger and being in need – are consoled by God with a prophesy of a future feast and celebration in his house. Their hunger didn’t lead them into despair, but their hunger sharpened their need for God. In the Gospel, we see guests who are satiated with plenty who from their abundance reject the invitation to the feast – perhaps they had no need of it, or perhaps there were better things to attend toward in their lives. Their abundance caused them to drift into indifference, ingratitude and even hostility. But Paul encourages us to learn that secret of living in abundance and of being in need. What is that secret? “I can do all things in him who strengthens me.” Paul’s answer, his secret, is his heart’s encounter with Christ in the midst of either need or abundance. Paul’s knowledge is not learned from a distance or from a book, but his school Christ through the experiences of his daily life. What he discovers is that finding Christ with him in his life strengthens him to face his need and also to not grow lax in abundance.
In the Gospel, one of the wedding guests is thrown out because he is not dressed well. The guest has not put on the garment of Jesus Christ. “For all of you who have been baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ,” and “I exhort you all to clothe yourself with Christ” by your lives. Yes, for Paul, the garment Christians both have and are called to continue to tailor is their personal conformity to Christ. The secret to Paul’s peace is letting both need and abundance be situations to help him conform better to Christ. Let us follow his lead, discover his secret – in need or in plenty – so that we might be dressed well for Christ’s banquet by the way we live our lives.