Spanish-American George Santayana wrote (in The Life of Reason, 1905): “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Winston Churchill outlined this reality
quite well in 1935, rather ominously foreboding another world war in the
future, with the following words:
“When
the situation was manageable it was neglected, and now that it is thoroughly
out of hand we apply too late the remedies which then might have effected a
cure. There is nothing new in the story. It is as old as the sibylline books.
It falls into that long, dismal catalogue of the fruitlessness of experience
and the confirmed unteachability of mankind. Want of foresight, unwillingness
to act when action would be simple and effective, lack of clear thinking,
confusion of counsel until the emergency comes, until self-preservation strikes
its jarring gong–these are the features which constitute the endless repetition
of history.” (House of Commons, 2 May 1935. Source: Churchill Museum)
We
see this playing out today in this Gospel passage. Jesus' parable works
in two directions. Looking back into the past, the Kingdom of heaven was
a free invitation God offered to His chosen people of Israel, sending the
prophets ahead of Him to invite them to the banquet to which the Messiah would
lead them. But they failed to accept that invitation, and the city of
Jerusalem, including the Lord's Temple, was burnt to the ground for their lack
of fidelity to the Lord's covenants. But looking to the future, jesus
foretells the reality that is unfolding before their eyes: the leaders are again
rejecting the invitation that Jesus offers them into the great feast of heaven,
the will indeed kill Him, and later on, when the apostles try to preach the
Lord's Resurrection and the wedding feast of the Lamb, they'll be kicked out of
the temples and synagogues again and again. Then, around 70AD, the temple
will be destroyed for the second time. History will repeat itself if we
are too stiff-necked and hard-hearted to make the difficult changes they demand
of us.
This
seems to be a disease of humanity. We are too often
"unteachable" (as Churchill said) whenever we fail make the tough
adjustments that history demands of us, which ultimately means conversion. Anyone who
makes a regular examination of conscience knows this, too. The fact is:
sometimes we let evil win by lack of foresight, poor counsel, laziness, or lack
of vision of the ultimate goal.
Fixing
that lack of vision is exactly what Jesus has been doing for us these past
weeks with these parables. Every single parable has mentioned "The
Kingdom of God" or "The Kingdom of Heaven." Jesus wants us
to think about heaven, he wants us to have a vision so that we can have the
enthusiasm to go after the goal, the focus to run the race of life. One
thing you can do this week is spend some time reading that vision in
the Sunday Gospels of past weeks - just think about what God's Kingdom,
heaven, is like. Last week we saw how heaven is a vineyard that is meant
to produce an abundant harvest of grapes. On Sept. 28th the Kingdom goes
to the son who obeys God's word with deeds. The week before that it is
the reward of a hard day's work (even when we don't fully deserve it).
Before that (if it wasn't trumped by Sept. 14th's feast of the Exaltation
of the Cross) the kingdom of heaven is a place where we forgive others because
our master has forgiven us so much more.
And today, Heaven
is a banquet that the King Himself invites you to. If Pope Francis
sent a bishop to your doorstep to invite you to a dinner, you probably wouldn't
say, "sorry but we have a soccer game," or "my house is a
mess" or "I just need to relax today." Well, God isn't
Pope Francis, or rather, Pope Francis isn't God, so let's not allow any excuses
keep us from the invitation to heaven that God Himself invites us to for our
eternity. Furthermore, don't let those things keep you from Mass on
Sundays, which is the true wedding feast of the lamb, as the priest says
every time he elevates the host before communion time: "Blessed are
those called to the supper of the lamb". You are called. Experience
the joy of that call. Leave behind the less important things and get that
deeper spiritual vision of what life is really all about. When you spend
time seeing what the Kingdom of Heaven is like, your hearts will start burning
in a way they never have, and you will be happier, more peaceful, more
effective in your daily works, and a more joyful witness of God's love to
others. Don't let history repeat itself again: accept the King’s invitation,
make the changes you need, and come, join the feast!
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