TEXT: The Gospel according to St. Matthew 22:1-14

One of the most dangerous things that can happen to us is something we allow to happen.  What is it, you may ask?

It is to live your life completely self-indulgently, in a manner oblivious to the work of God in sanctifying grace toward you.  It is to neglect God and completely abandon oneself to self-indulgent ownership of the gifts God has given to us.

1 And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying,
2 "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his son,

There is a marriage feast coming, like the feast that Jesus speaks of for a son, the son of a king.

Many are called to come to the feast.

The guest list is abundant.

3 and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast; but they would not come.
4 Again he sent other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have made ready my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves are killed, and everything is ready; come to the marriage feast.'

In the context our Lord speaks of, the guests were the nation of Israel.  Israel, as a nation did not respond to the Messianic claims of Jesus.

The servants were sent to call the guests.  Yet, they wanted nothing to do with the feast and offered excuses, preferring their own activities over those of the son or the king of the land.

As time progressed in the work of the servants of the king, violence occurred.  The servants were treated with disrespect and injured, some were killed--

5 But they made light of it and went off, one to his farm, another to his business,
6 while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.

As a result, the king was angry.

7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8 Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy.
9 Go therefore to the thoroughfares, and invite to the marriage feast as many as you find.'
10 And those servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.

God’s grace reaches down to the poor of the land, the people who are marginalized by the world system.  Yet, the Gospel goes out to these.  It was the religious community, the sanhedrin of Jerusalem, that blocked the way of the Gospel message to the common people.  They were active in their opposition of Jesus.

Pope John Paul II speaks to this in a homily on the 20th of April, 1980.

"Over the centuries the sanhedrins which seek to impose silence, abandonment or distortion of the truth change.  The sanhedrins of the contemporary world are many and all types. The sanhedrins are each and every person who rejects divine truth; they are systems of human thought, of human knowledge; they are the various conceptions of the world and also the various programs of human behavior; they are also the different forms of pressure used by so called public opinion, the psychology of the masses, the media, which are materialistic or secular, agnostic or antireligious; they are finally, certain contemporary systems of government which -- if they do not totally deprive their citizens of scope to profess their faith -- at least limit that scope in different ways, marginalize believers and turn them into second class citizens... and against all these modern types of the sanhedrin of that time, the response of faith is always the same ‘We must obey God rather than men.’"

Yet, here we have the vocation, the call, of a king to a feast.  This is the command of God, the King.  The Son is the Person of honor.  Still, there are those, the masses, who prefer to maintain their independence from the King’s command of a gracious invitation to be an honored guest.

They prefer the wood, the hay, the stubble of a world that is dying.

Many have bought the lie.

I think of the woman called to the place prepare for her by God, spoken in the Revelation (cf.. Rev. 12).  I see the serpent casting out water to drowned her and her seed.

For the most part, the world wanders after the "beast" of Revelation 13 until his ultimate destruction in Revelation 19.  These events and this parable are not unconnected.

The connection is in the work of God, the "opus dei," where God involves himself with men in giving sanctifying grace.

Yet, this sanctifying grace can be rejected.  It can be resisted.  God does not force this grace upon any.  All are allowed the option to refuse it, if they feel their desires are of more importance than the best God has to offer all who will come.

Whoever will may come -- And those servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.

Yet, so many buy into the lie of the world view that is not of God.  They come into the feast without a heart that is transformed by grace through faith.

11 "But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment;
12 and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless.
13 Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.'
14 For many are called, but few are chosen."

The wedding garment is sanctifying grace.

We are all called to holiness.  That is the vocation of the people of God.

Yet, we have many who do not want to put on the garment provided for them by God in grace through Mary.

They are the good and the bad who are swept into the feast.

It does not need to be this way.

We need NOT be speechless.  We have the answer.

The answer is in the Gospel.  But, it is distilled in First John, as St. John had learned it from our Lady, Mary in that place prepared for her by God.  It is the message of the Gospel that provides for us the means of sanctifying grace.   It is sacramental reconciliation and the grace of perfect contrition.  This is the garment we need to remain in the feast as a guest beloved.

7 but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.  (1 John 1:7-10, RSV)

It is true.  God will sanctify, make clean, make new creations shine with the brightness of holiness, if we avail ourselves of that gracious invitation and come to the feast and get the garment at the door, which is Jesus.  Confession is as continuous as it needs to be for reconciliation with God.  Let us be truly sorry for our sins and confess them and be reconciled, and enter and walk in fellowship with Jesus and the people of God upon the road of holiness unto the Lord.

For we are finally warned within the call (our vocation from God which we all have, clergy and laity).

12 "Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense, to repay every one for what he has done. 13  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."
14 Blessed are those who wash their robes,  that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.
15 Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and every one who loves and practices falsehood.
16 "I Jesus have sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star."
17 The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come." And let him who hears say, "Come." And let him who is thirsty come, let him who desires take the water of life without price.  (Revelation 22: 12-17, RSV)

May we be led by the Spouse of Mary to Jesus, her Son, the Son of the Father, our Great King



Deus et Sanctissima.