My key word for today is “invite.” Hang onto that word: Invite.
Two months ago my grandniece Lucille died at the age of 11. Her parents invited me to give a talk at her wake service. I said “Yes” to their invitation but I knew that giving the talk would be painful. Painful because I would have to speak in front of a crowd of family and friends who were really hurting. I said “Yes” to their invitation even though I knew that I would have to review again all that Lucille went through for seven years of treatments for her brain cancer. And yet I was consoled by calling to mind the words she spoke to her parents shortly before she died. She said, “Jesus will heal me when I get to heaven.” Her parents invited me to speak. I had to say Yes. I could not say No.
That story runs parallel to what is happening here in church today. We came here as our response to an invitation. Perhaps we were invited by family members or by friends or by fellow parishioners. But deep in our heart of hearts we know that the real invite came from Jesus. Jesus has called us into this Mass today to celebrate His Supper. The Church calls it the Lord’s Supper. It is not our supper or the church’s supper; it is the Lord’s Supper.
His invitation today flows from Luke’s Gospel, Chapter 22, verse 15, where Jesus took his place at the table with His disciples and said, “I want to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” Jesus invited His disciples to the table then and He invites us now. We are here today because the invite ultimately came from Jesus. And just as Lucille’s parents invited me to a wake service focused on suffering and dying and New Life, Jesus invites you to the Lord’s Supper which will be focused on suffering and dying and New Life.
Going to Mass is hard because it is always about suffering and dying. But it is also about the resurrection which means joy and peace. We heard a lot about suffering in our Bible readings today. The prophet Ezekiel suffered rejection when the people rebelled against him. He called them to worship God and God alone; but they continued to worship their false gods.
Saint Paul said in our Second Reading that he suffered insults, persecutions, beatings and jail time whenever he proclaimed the Gospel. And Jesus suffered rejection when He brought the message about God’s love and mercy to his hometown. His suffering puts Him in direct connection with us because we are suffering.
Everyone is suffering. Some of us have physical suffering. Some of us have anxiety or depression or grief some other mental suffering. Some of us have spiritual suffering as we search for meaning and purpose in life. So much for the suffering part of today’s Mass.
The dying and rising to New Life sections are found in the Eucharistic Prayer. We find ourselves singing about His dying and rising when we use these words: We proclaim your death, O Lord, and we profess your resurrection, until you come again.
I will read this sentence again and notice that the subject of the sentence is we. We proclaim your death, O Lord, and we profess your resurrection until you come again.
We were invited to the Lord’s Supper and the Lord fully expects us to participate. The Lord is looking for full active participation. The same is true for the Lord’s Prayer. We say “Our Father.” Not “My Father.” We say, “Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses.” Prayer is all about us. Our Savior has invited us to His table. We must respond to His invitation with full, active participation in the prayers that we sing and say.
Some of the readings and prayers are painful because they are about suffering and dying. But we must participate in them so that we can get to the Resurrection, the New Life, the life in heaven where all of our suffering is healed.
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