I love the imagery in our readings today of God offering us an invitation. God invites us to the banquet of eternal life as conveyed by the prophet Isaiah, a banquet of the richest foods and the choicest wines. Then, in the parable of the wedding feast in Matthew’s Gospel, we hear of those dignitaries and especially invited guests who refuse the invitation to the banquet, so messengers are sent to the roads and the streets to invite others to the celebration.
Let us start with a few observations about today’s Gospel. First, I find it interesting that after the first guests refuse to come to the feast, the king does not send his servants to the homes of the rich and powerful and influential of the community to extend invitations, but rather tells his servants to go to the streets, to gather anyone they find, good and bad alike. Yes, we are all invited to the banquet of the Lord. We are all invited to be Christ’s disciples. The celebrated 20th century Irish author James Joyce in his 1939 novel Finnegans Wake wrote this description of the Catholic Church: “here comes everybody.” As I look at the great diversity we have here at St Jude, I see a Christian community that truly represents the diversity of our Catholic faith, that is an example of Joyce’s description, “here comes everybody.” One thing, though, we need to avoid, is being a Church of cliques and elite groups, of thinking our way of practicing our Catholic faith is better than the way others express their faith, for there is unity in the diversity we Catholics express our faith.
But, what about the last part of the parable; is it not a contradiction of this welcome celebration to the banquet of the Lord? After having invited everyone to the banquet from the streets and byways, how can it be justified that someone be excluded for not wearing a fancy wedding garment? Where would he get such fancy clothing on short notice, if he had just come off the street? Perhaps we need to understand that it is not enough to be merely present at God’s banquet. While we are all called to the banquet, we are expected to behave as proper guests, to show respect to God and to our fellow guests. In a practical way, the Church opens wide its arms to the sinner, but the Church expects the sinner to make an effort to repent and be converted. It is not tolerable that he simply continue in his sinful ways, not making an effort to turn away from sin. That would not make sense in the context of God’s call and invitation to repentance and conversion. Indeed, in numerous Gospel passages, Jesus went out of his way to welcome sinners such as tax collectors and adulterers, but it was not a blanket acceptance of their ways, but rather a means to call them to conversion and change. Jesus tells them: “Your faith has made you whole; do not sin again; come, follow me.”
Our parable today ends by saying that though many are invited, few are chosen. It’s sad to say that although all are called to experience the love of God in their lives, not all accept the invitation. Many in our secular world choose another path, or look down at the religious life, or pursue the treasures of this material world at the expense of a true relationship with God. Some in our secular world spend their whole lives searching for meaning, for an end to the pain or emptiness they feel, but unfortunately, many do not look for those things in God. We could say that putting on the wedding garment at the banquet to which God invites us symbolizes the guest putting on Christ, no matter what the guest’s past or what sins he had previously committed. Through our baptism, we are given access to the wedding banquet of our Lord, we are clothed in the spirit and in the Good News of Christ. Through our life of faith, through putting on Christ, we are called to a constant cycle of repentance, conversion, and renewal.
I think one of the things we can take away today’s Gospel message is: How do we respond to the invitation we receive from God? Do we engage in our faith in a meaningful way, or are we content to do the bare minimum, to be the “ordinary, run-of-the-mill Catholic,” a Catholic who just goes to mass on Sundays, or who does not even do that? Do we neglect our prayer lives, Sacred Scripture, and faith formation? Do we aspire to be just a “good-enough Catholic,” or do we aspire to be more? Secondly, we might ask ourselves how we invite others to the faith, how we encourage others and help others on their journey. Do we see ourselves as evangelizers of the faith, both in word and example, helping to bring others to the faith and to help extend the invitation God gives to them? I so love the image of Jesus extending an invitation to us that we have in today’s Gospel readings. May we hear this invitation again and again on our journey of faith.
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