Word to the Wise
Thursday, August 18, 2022 - Thursday in the 20th Week in Ordinary Time
[Ezek 36:23-28 and Matt 22:1-14]"'The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.' The servants went out into the streets and fathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to meet the guests he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment. He said to him, 'My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?' But he was reduced to silence. Then the king said to his attendants, 'Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.' Many are invited, but few are chosen." [Matthew]
The parable of the wedding feast was intended to confront the leadership of the Jewish people with their indifference or rejection of Jesus and his teachings. (The destruction of the city may be an allusion to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD.) However, the parable goes further than simply confronting the Jewish leadership. The invitation to go out and invite anyone to come to the banquet is not an invitation to accept on any terms whatever! The wedding garment is a symbol of worthiness expressed in a life of faith and good deeds - the life of discipleship. The invitation, whether to Jews or Gentiles, still demands a life worthy of the invitation. "Many are called. Few are chosen."
For Catholics, it is tempting to identify the wedding banquet with the Eucharist and worthiness to receive communion, but the parable is broader than the sacraments and liturgical participation. What we do outside the church building is the sign of our worthiness. The life of true discipleship is a daily following of the teachings of Christ. The good deeds are expressed, in the Gospel According to Matthew, in the scene of the last judgment [Matt. 25:31-45]. What do our wedding garments look like? AMEN