Word to the Wise
Thursday, August 18, 2016 - Thursday in the 20th Week in Ordinary Time
[Ezek 36:23-28 and Matt 22:1-14]"Many are invited, but few are chosen." [Matthew]
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Much of Jesus' preaching features dining situations. Today we have a wedding feast where a king is enraged by the refusal of initial invitees to attend for various reasons. One of the original invitees mistreats and kills the invitation messengers and is destroyed as a result. So, the king decides to invite anyone who can be found. However, there IS a minimum called a "wedding garment." One of the general invitees shows up without wearing such a garment and suffers expulsion as well. What do we make of this?
The original audience would have been aware of the cultural norms for an event like this wedding feast. Indeed, we would be offended by an improperly dressed person at a wedding. It would be an egregious act of taking hospitality for granted. Therein lies the meaning of the parable. The understanding of the audience would be directed to the original invitation to the Chosen People which Jesus' ministry would have involved. But they rejected Jesus. However, those who were then invited (the gentiles) are not exempt from the demands of the kingdom. There is no free admission.
There is a danger in following the saying of Woody Allen that "80% of life is showing up!" The Lord does more than invite us to "show up." We cannot take his invitation for granted. Our own lives are our wedding garment. Would we pass inspection at the door? AMEN
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