RBWords

     The theme of "call and response" continues in the Gospel of Matthew, this time the image is a wedding banquet given by a king for his son!  The invited guests refuse the invitation in various ways - some violent!  So, the king expands the invitation to those who would not be expecting it!  However, even then someone takes the invitation for granted and appears in improper dress - an insult in that culture.  That person is cast out.  

     Each of the four gospels is a preaching and a teaching document.  The Gospel of Matthew was addressed to a community with a large number of Jewish converts to Christianity.  They would recognize easily that the initial invitation from Jesus was addressed to his Jewish brothers and sisters and, in the person of the Jewish authorities of the time, the invitation was rejected and continued to be rejected, sometimes violently.  They would also recognize that the gospel was, by then, being preached to non-Jewish people [Gentiles] and some of them were proving unworthy.

     The preaching and teaching of Jesus continues beyond the original setting and the eventual writing by the evangelist.  Thus, the invitation remains in force.  We are all invited to the banquet - no matter who we are.  If we respond, we must do so on Jesus' terms, not on our own.  This isn't just a matter of what we wear when we go to church (although that is something that we need to think about), but whether or not our whole faith and attitude are worthy of the invitation!  Religious smugness is not a suitable "garment!"  (Read Flannery O'Connor's wonderful short story, REVELATION.)  Nor is a kind of "whatever" attitude acceptable.  If we accept the invitation, we accept the responsibility that goes with it!  We have plenty of witnesses, including Rose of Lima, to give us examples.  AMEN