Jesus described heaven as a wedding feast, a party.
In a parable, Jesus says that those invited to a wedding feast (a metaphor for heaven) find excuses not to attend!
Then all on the highways and byways good and ‘bad’ are invited.
So often we want to put people into categories: they are bad! They are good!
Jesus reacted very strongly when people wanted to put others into categories. He reached out to the so-called ‘bad’. He reached out to the ‘unclean’ the ‘outsiders’.
He called those who do categorise others hypocritical.
Sometimes we want to categorise our ‘Church’ as The ‘Favourites‘…others not so good.
All indeed are God’s favourites.
Jesus died for all!
How often do we tend to see heaven as a courtroom!
The judgment that Jesus speaks about is based on how much we love!
Our principal vocation as Christians is to LOVE.
Saint Augustine said love and do what you like!
Of course, he was not saying that it does not matter what we do!
He means that if we are truly committed to loving then we would want to act with integrity and motivated by love and United with the will of Christ.
Do I go to Mass because it is an obligation?
Mass is about celebration. We celebrate God’s amazing love in giving us Jesus who suffered and died for us, who rose from the dead, and who will come again!
We celebrate that we are the beloved sons and daughters of God.
We celebrate that God’s love is universal.
We are strengthened so that we can commit ourselves to loving all.
Am I grateful for this amazing mystery and gift?
If we really accept this, if we really believe, then indeed what a privilege it is to be able to attend Mass! What a gift is our Christian vocation!
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