Sunday, October 12, 2008

Word of the day:
Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today the Church celebrates : St. Wilfrid, Our Lady of Pillar
Gospel
Mt 22:1-14 or 22:1-10
Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and elders of the people
in parables, saying,
"The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who gave a wedding feast for his son.
He dispatched his servants
to summon the invited guests to the feast,
but they refused to come.
A second time he sent other servants, saying,
‘Tell those invited: “Behold, I have prepared my banquet,
my calves and fattened cattle are killed,
and everything is ready; come to the feast.”’
Some ignored the invitation and went away,
one to his farm, another to his business.
The rest laid hold of his servants,
mistreated them, and killed them.
The king was enraged and sent his troops,
destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.
Then he said to his servants, 'The feast is ready,
but those who were invited were not worthy to come.
Go out, therefore, into the main roads
and invite to the feast whomever you find.’
The servants went out into the streets
and gathered all they found, bad and good alike,
and the hall was filled with guests.
But when the king came in to meet the guests,
he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment.
The king said to him, 'My friend, how is it
that you came in here without a wedding garment?'
But he was reduced to silence.
Then the king said to his attendants, 'Bind his hands and feet,
and cast him into the darkness outside,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’
Many are invited, but few are chosen."

Thoughts from the cornfield:
For years I struggled with this passage because I couldn't understand why the guest who had no wedding garment was treated so badly. Then I heard a homily that talked about the culture of the time. In Jesus' day, wedding hosts provided their guests with wedding garments. It wasn't that this man was poor and couldn't afford a garment. A garment was provided and this man chose not to wear it. Then the parable became clear to me. God invites us all to be a part of his kingdom - but unless we "put on Christ" we cannot be part of the celebration. The mantle of Christ covers us and we can choose to put it on or not, but unless we do, we cannot enter the wedding feast of God.