HOMILY – 28th Ordinary Sunday of Year A (10am Sunday Family Mass)
Matt 22 : 1-14 // Philippians 4 : 12-14, 19-20 // Isaiah 25 : 6-10 // Psalm 22 (23)
Today’s Gospel Reading reminds me of an African folk-tale that I’d like to share with you. It’s called “Why
the monkey is so happy” and it goes like this :
A long time ago, far away in a corner of Africa, there was a long river that flowed through the land all year
round. The river was deep, wide and strong-flowing, so none of the animals who lived there could get
across from one side of the river to the other.
On the one side of the river, there was a sandstone ridge with lots of caves, and the animals that lived on
that side of the river always had somewhere warm to sleep after dark; somewhere protected against
night-time predators. But the ground was rocky and hard and very few plants grew, and there wasn’t
much grass to graze. Although the animals were safe and warm at night, they had to travel far during the
day to try and find any food at all to keep them alive.
On the other side of the river, there was a wide fertile plain with lots of sweet grass to graze, and a leafy
jungle full of plants with all sorts of delicious fruits and nuts. The animals that lived on that side of the
river always had plenty to eat during the day, all of it close by and easy to get to. But they had nowhere to
shelter at night-time when it got cold and dark and predators roamed the land hunting for their prey.
One day, the king of the land went on a tour of his kingdom, looking for good deeds that he could do for
all the animals in the land. When he came to this particular corner of his kingdom, he immediately saw
the need to build a bridge across the river. So his army of engineers and soldiers built a sturdy bridge
with thick planks of strong wood that could support the weight of even the heaviest elephant.
But as soon as the king had left, all the elephants looked at the bridge and said to themselves, “Why
should we go the trouble of walking all the way across the bridge to get food when the wooden planks
have our favourite tree bark on them ?” So the elephants ripped up the planks of wood forming the bridge
and ate all their favourite bark, and the bridge was soon broken and useless.
When the king next came around, he asked what had happened to the bridge he had built to allow the
animals to cross from one side of the river to get abundant food in the day and cross back over the river to
enjoy warmth and protection in the caves at night. When the animals told him what had happened, he
ordered his army of engineers and soldiers to rebuild the bridge, this time out of woven river reeds. Now
the woven river reeds weren’t strong enough to support the weight of an elephant, but they were strong
enough to support the next heaviest animal, the hippopotamus.
But as soon as the king had left, all the hippopotami looked at the bridge and said to themselves, “Why
should we go to the trouble of walking all the way across the bridge to get food, when the bridge itself is
made of our favourite river reeds ?” So the hippopotami ripped the river reeds apart and ate them all,
leaving the bridge broken and useless once again.
Soon enough, the king came around again, and asked what had happened to the bridge that he had
rebuilt to allow the animals to cross the river and have abundant food all day and warmth and shelter at
night. When the animals told him what had happened, he once more ordered his army of engineers and
soldiers to rebuild the bridge, this time out of thatched grass from the plains. Now the thatched grass
wasn’t strong enough to support the weight of an elephant, or of a hippopotamus, but it was strong
enough to support the weight of the next heaviest animal, the antelope.
But as soon as the king had left, all the antelope looked at the bridge and said to themselves, “Why
should we go to the trouble of walking all the way across the bridge to get food, when the bridge itself is
made of our favourite grazing grass ?” So the antelope tore up the thatched grass forming the bridge and
ate it all, leaving the bridge broken and useless once again.
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When the king next came around he could hardly believe that the bridge he had built and rebuilt twice was
once again ruined, and when he found out what had happened he said that he would never again build
another bridge across the river, because the animals were too selfish and foolish to deserve his kindness
and goodwill. Instead, he commanded his army of engineers and soldiers to fasten one single rope
across the river, too high for any of the four-legged animals to reach, as a sign to remind the animals that
they could have enjoyed the ability to cross the river for food in the day, and back again for shelter at night
– if it hadn’t been for their own stupidity. And then he left never to return, and all the animals were very
upset that they no longer had the means to cross the river when they wanted to, but it was too late.
Only the monkey was agile enough to jump up high enough to reach the single rope, and strong and light
enough to swing himself hand over hand from one side of the river to the other. So the monkey became
the happiest animal in the land, always able to get as much food as he could eat during the day, and
always able to shelter in the warm, dry caves at night, safe from predators.
Now as I said, today’s Gospel reading reminded me about that story, because both of them are about kind
human kings who wanted to do something good and generous for those immediately around them. And
the kings in both stories can be compared to God, who holds his hands out to us and invites us to share in
the joy of a close relationship with him, with all its wonderful benefits of salvation and eternal life. But
there are some important differences, some stark contrasts between God’s attitude and that of the human
kings in both stories.
Because the human kings act in a human way when their generosity is rejected – the first invited guests
are destroyed and their towns burnt in the Gospel reading, and the greedy heavy animals are gradually
excluded each time the bridge is rebuilt in our African folk-tale. And both kings turn their backs on the
foolish guests and animals who rejected their kindness.
But God, on the other hand, never rejects us or abandons us in this life. He is constantly offering His love
to us, His all-and-everything to us. There is nothing that God would not offer to us to try to restore a
healthy, close relationship with him – not even His only and beloved son. And that is evident if you read
the Scriptures, right from the days of creation, long before the Old Testament prophets, right up to the end
of the New Testament.
God is always stooping down towards us, even becoming human like us in an attempt to demonstrate
just how much He loves us – just how much He wants us to love Him back by offering ourselves to Him
and learning how we can follow His will.
God invites all of us to a feast of everlasting satisfaction, to a banquet beyond comparison with anything
else on earth. God never stops building and rebuilding bridges to His kingdom of joy and eternal peace
and inviting us to cross to Him, most recently by sending His son, Jesus who is the way, the bridge to
truth and life. All that remains is for us to either accept that offer, or reject it.
And so my prayer for all of us and for our loved ones throughout this coming week is that we will be
strengthened by the Holy Spirit to be open to God’s invitation, and that we may re-discover through
prayer, Scripture and the Sacraments how we can accept and embrace God’s love through His son our
Lord, Jesus Christ.
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