2nd Week of OT 2020 - Monday - The Bridegroom's mysterious invitation

Although Jewish law required fasting only once a year, on the Day of atonement, the Pharisees practiced fasting twice a week. The disciples of John the Baptist apparently imitated John’s ascetic lifestyle as well, fasting often as a sign of devotion to God and as a sign of repentance for sins. In contrast, we read in this morning’s Gospel how Jesus and his disciples are not only practicing minimal fasting, they are seen feasting with sinners.

When questioned about his practice, the Lord answers in a way that becomes quite typical of his ministry, he answers with a rhetorical question inviting his critics to a deeper level of understanding, in this case, a deeper understanding of his identity.

Fasting would be fine, if he were just another itinerant preacher. Fasting would be fitting, if he was simply a devout Jew seeking to imitate the currently popular religious faction, the Pharisees. But the Lord answers the question about his fasting with another question: “can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?”

Jesus’ ministry is different than anything that had come before. And so he and his disciples will appear to act differently, especially in regard to popular conceptions of holiness.

So too, Christians, our behavior will likely appear strange to non-believers. Our values are different from the world. The topics of our conversations are different. We pour over ancient texts and the wisdom of saints who have been dead for hundreds of years. We pause from the daily grind of pursuing wealth and power, to pray, to meditate, to contemplate the presence of God. And we leave the comfort of our safe routines to serve others, to feed the hungry and clothe the naked.

And through prayer, repentance, and works of mercy, our lives begin to take on the characteristics of that original group of disciples: joy, generosity, courage, self-sacrifice, even the occasional miracle or two. Our strange way of life, though, contains an invitation to others to seek faith and intimacy with the Lord Jesus, that they too may have life.

We honor today, St. Sebastian, a soldier in the Roman army who was arrested for his kindness to imprisoned Christians who awaited their martyrdom during the Roman persecution. Artistic depictions often show Sebastian standing by a Roman column with arrows sticking out of him, having miraculously survived his execution.

This strange scene is not unlike our Gospel: God mysteriously breaking into the world, confounding popular expectations, but with a sense of invitation: those who belong to the world of death and violence and unbelief, are invited into this mysterious company of the disciples of Jesus Christ, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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To God the Father Almighty we direct the prayers of our heart for the needs and salvation of humanity and the good of His faithful ones.

For the holy Church of God, that the Lord may graciously watch over her and care for her.

For all who are oppressed by any kind of need, that the Lord may grant them relief and move Christians to come to the aid of the suffering.

For the safety of all those traveling to the March for Life this week in Washington D.C., and that the witness to the dignity of human life may bring about greater protection for the unborn and conversion to the Gospel of Life.

For our beloved dead, for the poor souls in purgatory, and for X, for whom this Mass is offered.

O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you yourself are the source of all devotion, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith we may truly obtain. Through Christ our Lord.