WHY WE GIVE AND SERVE
Author: Fr. Michael Byron
October 10, 2020
A few weeks ago I got an invitation in the mail to a
wedding. It was for the daughter of an old friend of mine from college. I’ve known
her since she was born, though I haven’t seen her in years. That family has
lived hundreds of miles away from here for decades, and the wedding is
scheduled to take place next month in Houston, TX. They all had to have known
when they sent me that invitation that there was NO chance that I could come to
the celebration, especially now.
But they reached out to me anyway – which made me read it in
a very different way. It was not so much a message about a head count at a
banquet hall and a choice of beef, chicken, or fish for dinner (though it was
that too).
It was a message about, “Hey, something beautiful and
important is happening to us, and we want to share our joy with you because you
matter to our family. Even after all this time and distance and circumstance,
we care about you.” That was a far more meaningful thing to receive than a
simple party notice.
And maybe that can be a helpful way for us to navigate
through what is otherwise a very strange and even disturbing gospel parable
from Jesus today. Here’s this king who want to throw a wedding party for his
son, and invites a bunch of people who don’t want to come. Evidently not a very
popular king – and we soon come to understand why. His primary concerns seem to
be all about himself. “Look at all the work I’ve done and the sacrifices I’ve
made to put on this event. I want my banquet hall full, and if it isn’t then I’ll
murder you who don’t RSVP, and burn down your houses. And if you show up
without being dressed properly, I’ll have you thrown out by force. Because this
whole production is about me and what I want!”
That’s quite the contrast to the wedding invitation I got,
which said in affect “this is about you, and your importance to us. We know you
can’t be here, but that’s okay.”
One thing that has been true about this season of the
COVID-19 virus is that almost nobody is having the wedding celebrations that
they had been dreaming about. The grand productions are on hold right now, but
there’s been a blessing in that. It has called us back to what such a ritual is
really all about, and it’s mostly not about throngs of people and sumptuous
banquets and fancy clothes and limousines. It’s about an enduring and public
commitment to love and serve and sacrifice for the sake of the other, to
displace one’s self as the center of the universe. And in light of that, the
king in Jesus’s parable today is not to be understood as God, as it seems so
automatic to do. This king is whatever the opposite of God is – God who is in
fact the center and source of the universe, but who chose freely in Christ to
make Himself something less than that, in the hope of inviting us to his
heavenly banquet – freely, without force or threat or anger or retribution.
It is surely true that there are ultimate consequences for
our refusing God’s gracious invitation to the heavenly feast, but that’s not
owing to God’s anger. It’s owing to our own self-consumption, like that
miserable king.
I’m pretty sure that I’ll still be welcomed in to the circle
of friendship and care involving the soon-to-be bride and groom, even if I can’t
make it to Houston next month.
This week here at Pax Christi we kick off our annual stewardship
drive, which is an invitation to remember exactly why we dedicate ourselves and
our prayers and our passion and our resources to this wonderful community. And both
God and the strange, angry king have something to tell us about that.
We commit ourselves to this place and to one another, not
out mere obligation or some vague threat if we don’t but because of all of the
good that we do and the joy that we experience all the time in immersing
ourselves in God’s work, both within our walls and – especially in this
extraordinary time – in our broader communities. Pax brings us together – with some
of the most dedicated, caring, generous, and virtuous human beings we could
ever meet, to work to make the gospel of justice, peace, and hospitality something
real and concrete around here. Until I arrived here around 2 ½ years ago, I had
never before served in a Parish that was not carrying some significant
long-term financial debt. You can only imagine what a constriction that imposes
on a community’s ability to share the gospel in creative and new ways. We don’t
carry debt here – and that is owing to the generosity of the stewards who came
before us, some of whom are still here as our founders. We are free to serve
because of them. Really free!
In turn, our dedication to stewardship now will ensure that
this community will be free in years to come to respond to whatever God’s work
may require. I believe the popular term these days is “paying it forward.” We are
so blessed, and we have the opportunity to bless those who come next. And it’s
not only for ourselves, but for those around us whose needs are greater. We do
it all the time.
If you are a registered member of Pax Christi, you should
already have received in the mail an invitation to renew or to increase your
intention to contribute to our mission through your generosity. If you are not
a member, or have not previously been a part of our work, please consider doing
so. It’s amazing what happens when a community comes together to make God’s
reign real in our own time and place. This is our time, this is our place. Many
of our founders are gone now, and many of those who will benefit from our stewardship
aren’t born yet. But here we are. Now.
That angry king in the gospel would wish us to please him
because he will otherwise kill us or throw us out. That’s not it. The real God
of Jesus Christ would wish us to participate in making God’s world better and
more beautiful and more hopeful because of what we have to offer in our gifts –
whatever they may be. He invites us to the wedding feast because of love, not
fear or obligation. Stewardship season is an opportunity for all of us to
respond.
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