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Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah 25:6–10a; Philippians 4:12–14, 19–20; Matthew 22:1–14
The prophet Isaiah speaks of a feast prepared by God.
It is not a small feast.
It is not for one tribe, one nation, or one group of righteous people.
It is a feast for all peoples.
On the mountain of the Lord, God will destroy death, wipe away tears, and remove the shame of His people.
This is the hope behind today’s Gospel.
Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a wedding feast prepared by a king for his son.
The feast is ready.
The invitation has been sent.
Everything is prepared.
But those who were invited do not come.
Some are indifferent.
One goes to his farm.
Another goes to his business.
Others react with violence. They seize the servants, mistreat them, and kill them.
This is difficult to understand.
How can an invitation to a feast provoke such rejection?
Because the invitation of God is never only an invitation to enjoy something.
It is also a call to change.
To enter the feast means to recognize the king.
To come to the wedding means to accept the reign of God.
To sit at the table means to stop living as if my farm, my business, my plans, and my interests were the center of everything.
That is why the invitation is refused.
Not because the feast is poor.
But because the human heart often prefers its own small kingdom.
Still, the king does not cancel the feast.
He sends his servants again.
This time they go to the crossroads.
They invite everyone they find, “bad and good alike.”
The wedding hall is filled.
This is the Gospel.
God does not prepare salvation only for the worthy.
All have sinned.
All need mercy.
All are invited through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
The first invited refused to come.
Now the doors are opened wide.
But the parable does not end there.
Among the guests, the king sees a man without a wedding garment.
He has entered the hall, but he has not changed.
He has accepted the invitation, but not the meaning of the invitation.
The wedding garment is not social respectability.
It is not outward appearance.
It is the new life that grace begins in us.
Saint Paul speaks of putting off the old self and putting on the new.
We cannot come to the feast of the Son and still cling to the old garment of selfishness, pride, hatred, and indifference.
Grace is free.
But grace is not cheap.
God invites us as we are, but He does not leave us as we are.
Every Eucharist places us inside this parable.
The table is prepared.
The Lamb gives Himself.
The Church already tastes the wedding feast of the Lamb.
But the King also comes to see His guests.
He looks attentively.
He looks for the garment of Christ.
He looks for faith.
He looks for conversion.
He looks for mercy, humility, patience, and love.
Saint Paul says:
“I can do all things in Him who strengthens me.”
By ourselves, we cannot put on this new life.
But in Christ, we can.
In Christ, poverty and abundance, suffering and joy, weakness and strength can all become places of faithfulness.
Today, the invitation is given again.
Come to the feast.
Do not let your work, worries, plans, or small kingdoms keep you away.
Come to the Eucharistic table.
Receive the mercy of Christ.
And let Him clothe you with His life.
Because the feast is ready.
Death will not have the final word.
And God will wipe away the tears from every face.
Biblical Reflections on the Gospel of Matthew
Scripture Attribution
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition,
copyright © 1989, 1993
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council
of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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