TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
15 OCTOBER 2017
Jesus
tells this parable to the religious leaders in Jerusalem during the last few
weeks of his life, just before they bring him to Pontius Pilate and have him
executed. So, there is a certain sense
of urgency and a great deal of violence.
By the time Saint Matthew had recorded this parable in his Gospel, the
Romans had destroyed the holy city, set on Mount Zion. The original readers of this parable would
have read it in the light of the prophecy of Isaiah. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus
Christ, the veil that had veiled all peoples had been removed. Death was destroyed by the death of the Son
of God. Clothed with a white garment as
they had emerged from the waters of Baptism, they feasted on the rich food of
the Eucharist on the holy mountain of faith in Jesus Christ. Even though their Jewish brothers and sisters
had all been invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb, many had ignored the
invitation. With Jerusalem and the
temple destroyed, the Gentiles had responded and had taken the seats at the
table of the Lord.
In hearing
this parable today, we might be tempted to judge those who had rejected the
message of Jesus Christ. We can become
smug and brag that we have not made the same mistake. We have responded to the
Lord’s invitation and have passed through the waters of Baptism. We are seated here on God’s Holy Mountain,
sharing in the Supper of the Lamb who was slain (pictured on the front of our
Altar). However, this is the living Word
of God addressed to us today. That web
of death has certainly been destroyed by the death and resurrection of Jesus
Christ. In telling this parable to us,
the Lord invites us to take a good look at the veils that we place around
ourselves, and the webs that we weave in our lives.
The parable
says that the king went out and invited everyone, both good and bad, to his
son’s wedding feast. The Lord has chosen
us, not because we have been better than anyone else, or not because we have
earned his invitation. He called us to
faith because he loves us and wants us to join him in the heavenly
banquet. Jesus Christ may have destroyed
the ultimate veil of death. We have to
remove the veil that convinces us that there is no need to share in his dying
on a daily basis. We have to die to
ourselves, to our own selfish interests, to our own destructive habits, so that
we can share in rising to be one with Christ and with our brothers and
sisters. The warning is clear. If we do not share in his dying, then we will
not share in his rising.
That is how
we can understand what happened to the man who is kicked out of the wedding
banquet. There is no secret dress code
in the Kingdom of God! Instead, we were
clothed with a white garment on the day we were baptized. That exterior garment signified that the
internal relationship we have in Jesus Christ.
We continue to wear that garment when we participate in the daily task
of dying to ourselves. Just calling
ourselves Catholics and sitting here at Mass will not suffice. The Lord calls us to stop making excuses and
take steps to remove those veils and webs that separate us from him and each
other.
In hearing
this parable, we have to be careful not to interpret it too literally. God is not an angry king who destroys people
who do not respond. God does not get
angry in the same sense that king in the parable becomes angry. God’s invites everyone and wants everyone to
share in his banquet. But he respects
our fee will to refuse and walk away from his banquet. His “anger” represents his passionate desire
for everyone to respond. That is why we
held our 8th graders “captive” all day today. We want to help them to understand God’s
desire for them to be part of his Kingdom.
We want to do everything possible to help them prepare for the Sacrament
of Confirmation. We want to help them to
dust off the white garment given to them at their Baptism and wear it proudly
today. In helping them, we must respond
ourselves.
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