St. Matthew 22:1-14
Dear Friends, Today’s gospel from Matthew has many layers of meaning and challenges. There are two points I want to consider. We have received an invitation to the wedding feast and that has consequences for us.In the Bible, the theme of the invitation or call is repeated often. Abraham is the first, then Moses, David and the prophets. In the New Testament it is Peter and the Apostles and finally, Paul. We join that very prestigious group in our own lives. We are invited to the wedding feast; we are called to follow Jesus. With the call there are responsibilities.
Jesus’ invitation, like his life, is an unending, unmeasurable and relentless act o f love. The feast that Jesus hosts is open to all at all times. Our task is simple yet profound. We need to recognize that accepting the invitation demands the wedding garment of living according to the gospel values.
The banquet is beyond anything one could imagine. It awaits our arrival. Our seat is reserved for eternity. The story of the wedding garment helps us to understand this reality. When God calls, and He does so often, we need to take action. We have to accept the message of Jesus. We want to make our yes express itself in a new way of living. The wedding garment means our lifestyle is trying to express the gospel message. The demands of Jesus’ wisdom are not met by a token effort or just following the crowd. It demands a change of heart, a conversion.
The wedding garment tells us it is not enough to just show up. We need a commitment that goes deeper. The fact is that God is never finished with us. God always wants more. The Christian life asks us to constantly choose Jesus who, indeed, is the wedding feast. The Christian life is never satisfied with just following the routine.
We need to work at reconciliation to keep on forgiving not just seven times but seventy times seven times. We need to hear the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth not with a casual effort but with true sacrifice and generosity. We need to be open to all, not just our parish or our group, but to the stranger and the ones that are different.
Indeed, the wedding garment is a way of life that understands that God is never finished with us. There is always more that God wants. Jesus really meant it when He said if we want to save our life we have to lose it. If we are to be the leader, we need to be the servant of all! He has loads more of these upside down and inside out changes of reality that never let us forget to put on the wedding garment if we want to get into the wedding feast. All of this is the case because God’s love has no limits. God wants us to share in the fullness of the feast of that love. As always, we do this by walking in the footsteps of Jesus.
