A seat at the table
A most blessed and Happy Thanksgiving to each of you who finds themselves reflecting on my reflections. Today (as in the day I am writing this) is Monday, October 21st. Yesterday in my morning prayer time, the Holy Spirit inspired this reflection which I am inspired to share with each of you this Thanksgiving as we prepare to gather around our own feast tables. May the grace and peace of our Lord walk with each of you as you encounter those who will gather around you this Thanksgiving.
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to him,
"Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you."
He replied, "What do you wish me to do for you?"
They answered him, "Grant that in your glory
we may sit one at your right and the other at your left."
Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the cup that I drink
or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?"
They said to him, "We can."
Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink, you will drink,
and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized;
but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give
but is for those for whom it has been prepared." (Matthew 10)
Purgatory is a concept that I have struggled with. I know that this is a very Catholic concept and a very contentious one at that. In my reflection of purgatory my struggle has not been on the idea that when many of us die we will still need some ‘polishing’ up to become holy. I don’t believe that will be a ‘poof’ experience but some sort of process. What I have struggled with is some portrayals of purgatory: doom and gloom. On this particular morning, as I sit in prayer in the ‘fireplace’ room at Kingston, a childhood memory was sparked: my many years seated at the ‘kids table’ at family holidays. In my adult life the kids table has not existed, a lost remnant of larger families. Today’s Gospel brings to mind the promise of the heavenly wedding feast. James and John are trying to manipulate the seating chart for places of honor.What if purgatory is more like the ‘kid’s table’: a place that is still part of the feast, part of the family, but that is set aside for those who are not mature enough to join the ‘big table’ (you know the individuals who still have a propensity to throw a roll when asked to pass the rolls). Oftentimes there was an adult at the kid’s table to oversee the mayhem of so many immature souls, perhaps in heaven as well, we are guided by a spirit of wisdom to what is required to sit in the choice seats. Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel that it is not we who pick our seats, but our seat is chosen for us. I think that when pondering heaven, we can often fall into the James and John camp: we boldly think we have earned a prime spot. We are called to strive to be saints in this life so that we can be Saints (seated at the head table so to speak) in the next. Jesus throughout the Gospels models and teaches us to what this looks like. One particular Godpel stands out to me that ties well to today’s reflection…
When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 14)
This “holyday” season as we gather with friends and family let’s spend some time preparing for the tables we will sit around. What behaviors in my life keep me firmly at the spiritual ‘kids table’? What can I do differently this year that will reflect a readiness for a seat at the big table. Allow this Gospel to have it’s desired effect: begin with the humility that our seat is at the ‘kids table.’ This holiday season, while our brains work on the logistical details of our gatherings, spend some time in prayer asking our Father what is keeping us at the ‘kids table.’ Take the insight that God bestows and boldly ask for the grace to change whatever that ‘vice’ might be into it’s opposing virtue. May our holiday tables look a little more ‘holy’ this season. This will truly be something to be thankful for!
