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News Agency, The World Seen from Rome
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Father
Cantalamessa on Gospel Priorities
A
Commentary by Pontifical Household Preacher
ROME,
OCT. 7, 2005 (Zenit.org). - In his commentary on this
Sunday's readings, Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, the
preacher of the
Pontifical Household, warns of the danger of losing out on
the important things in life.
* * *
Matthew
22:1-14
What is
important?
It is
instructive to note the motives that made the guests of the
parable refuse to attend the banquet. The evangelist Matthew
says that they "made light" of the invitation, "and went
off, one to his farm, another to his business." On this
point, Luke's Gospel is more detailed and gives these
reasons for the refusal: "I have bought a field, and I must
go out and see it ... I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I
go to examine them ... I have married a wife, and therefore
I cannot come" (Luke 14:18-20).
What do
these persons have in common? All three have something
urgent to do, something that cannot wait, which requires
their immediate presence. And what does the nuptial banquet
represent? It indicates the messianic goods; participation
in the salvation brought by Christ, therefore, the
possibility to live eternally. The banquet represents,
therefore, what is important in life, more than that, the
only thing that is essential. It is clear therefore those
who were invited committed what the error was that. They
neglected the important for the urgent, the essential for
the contingent!
This is
such a widespread and insidious risk, not only on the
religious but also on the purely human plane, which it is
worthwhile to reflect on it a bit, above all on the
religious plane. To neglect the important for the urgent
means to put off the fulfillment of religious duties because
there is always something urgent to do. It is Sunday and it
is time to go to Mass, but there is a visit to be made, work
to be done in the garden, and dinner to be prepared. The
Sunday liturgy can wait, not dinner; then Mass is postponed
and one gathers around the cooking pot.
I have
said that the danger of omitting the important for the
urgent is also present in the human realm, in everyday life,
and I would like to refer to this also. It is certainly
important for a man to dedicate time to his family, to be
with his children, to talk with them if they are older, to
play with them if they are small. But at the last moment
urgent things always appear that need to be taken care of in
the office, extras to do at work, and time with the family
is put off for another occasion, ending up by returning home
late, too tired to think of anything else.
It is a
moral obligation for a man or a woman to visit their elderly
parent who lives alone or in a residence. At times it is
important to visit a sick acquaintance, to show one's
support and perhaps offer some practical service. But it is
not urgent; if postponed, the world won't collapse and
perhaps no one will even realize -- so it is postponed.
The same
happens when it comes to taking care of one's health, which
is also among important things. The doctor, or simply one's
body, warns that one must take care of oneself, take a
period of rest, avoid that stress ... One answers: yes, yes,
I will do this without fail, as soon as I have finished this
job, when I have cleaned the house, when I have paid all my
debts ... until one realizes that it is too late.
Herein
lies the snare: one spends one's life attending to one
thousand little things that must be taken care of and having
no time for things that really matter in human relations and
that can give real joy (or if neglected, real sadness) in
life. Thus, we see how the Gospel, indirectly, is also a
school of life. It teaches us to set priorities and to
attend to the essential. In a word, it teaches us not to
lose the important for the urgent, as happened to those who
were invited in our parable.
[Italian
original published in Famiglia Cristiana; translation by
ZENIT]
ZE05100270
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