TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
15 OCTOBER 2023
Isaiah
speaks of a mountain on which God will provide for all peoples a feast of rich
food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure choice wines. On this mountain, he will destroy the veil
that veils all people. He will destroy
death forever and wipe away the tears of every face.
Ironically,
this prophecy is not fulfilled on the top of a glorious mountain filled with
light and glory. It is fulfilled on
Mount Calvary, when Jesus is stripped of his clothes and crucified like a
common criminal. It is a very dark
day. Most of his closest disciples have
abandoned him. There seems to be no
hope. As he dies, Jesus laments that his
Father has abandoned him. The power of
death and sin seems to have prevailed.
But, three days later, in the light of the resurrection, it becomes
clear that Jesus has destroyed the power of death by entering into it. His Father has not abandoned him. Jesus has won the victory by his utter
faithfulness to the will of the Father.
He promises that those who die with him will rise with him.
Jesus tells
this parable of the wedding feast to the chief priests and elders of the people
in the temple during the last week before his crucifixion. His parable states that everyone is invited
to the kingdom of God, which he has been proclaiming and which he will seal
with his death and resurrection. But the
invited guests make all kinds of excuses for not coming. Then, the king sends out a second invitation,
which is also ignored. So, the king
sends his servants to invite anyone whom they encounter in the streets to come
to the wedding feast.
Saint
Matthew records this parable after the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the
temple in the year 70, some forty years after the death and resurrection of
Jesus Christ. The parable makes it clear
that Jesus has invited everyone, even the chief priests and elders of the
people, to be part of the kingdom of God and share the rich feast of his death
and resurrection. However, they have
refused the invitation, along with all those who had heard the prophecy of
Isaiah and continue to wait for it to be fulfilled. Gentiles have taken their place and
participate in the Eucharist, sharing fully in the Paschal Mystery; the Lord’s
dying and rising.
It is easy
to hear this parable and judge those who rejected the invitation. “They really blew it,” we might say. But this response is missing the point of the
parable, the living Word of God, spoken to us today. The last thing we need these days is any kind
of antisemitism. We may have been joined
to the Kingdom of God when we were baptized.
But there have been times when we received a call from the Lord to spend
more time in prayer or give ourselves in humble service. There are other times when we walked away
from an opportunity to be a good neighbor to someone. We make excuses or claim to be too busy. That is why it is important for us to pay
attention to the man who is thrown out in the darkness. He does not violate some strict dress
code. By neglecting to wear the wedding
garment, he does not engage in the work of the kingdom. When we were baptized, we were clothed with a
white garment. We were told to wear that
garment. We wear our baptismal garment when
we put our faith into action.
We gather today at the Eucharist, a
feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure choice
wines. The Mystery of the Lord’s dying
and rising is made present here as we remember it. The Lord feeds us to strengthen our resolve
to put our faith into action. At the end
of time, the Lord will enter the world for final judgment, just as the king
entered the wedding feast. He will
expect us to wear the wedding garment of repentance and participation in the
life of the Church. We thank God for inviting us to be part
of the Kingdom. We must choose to be intentional disciples and put on
Christ as on the day of our baptism.
No comments:
Post a Comment