DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Isaiah 25,6-10a; Philippians 4,12-14.19-20;
Today’s gospel reading presents to us the parable of those invited to a wedding feast. The first reading, taken from the book of Isaiah, prepares this theme, because it speaks of the banquet which God prepares for his people. In the Letter to the Philippians, Paul recalls God's intention to satisfy all our needs, according to his richness in Christ Jesus.
God's plan for man is a very generous plan of love and communion, which is expressed through the image of banquet. The banquet is an image often used in the Scriptures, precisely, to indicate abundance of God's gifts. Isaiah, thus, describes God's plan: the Lord will prepare on this mountain [Mount Zion] a banquet of fatty food for all peoples. The Lord's invitation is addressed to all peoples; there are neither limitations, nor discrimination. It is going to be a banquet of excellent and refined wines and succulent foods. It is not possible to imagine a more wonderful thing! Then, the Prophet expresses this generous plan of the Lord in another way. God's intention is to put an end to sadness and shame: On this mountain, he will remove the mourning veil covering all peoples and the shroud enwrapping all nations. God sees that the world is going badly; he wants all men to live happily in love with him and in communion with one another; his project then is to eliminate death forever, wipe the tears from every face and make the dishonourable condition of his people to disappear. All these arouse in us a hymn of gratitude to God: Here is our God, in whom we hoped for salvation; the Lord is the one in whom we hoped. We exalt and rejoice that he has saved us. This is the conclusion of God's plan.
Jesus’ parable speaks of the answer given to God's invitation to participate in his banquet. Jesus says: «The kingdom of heaven is like a king who made a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to call the wedding guests. The guests represent the Jewish people who are first priority in God’s plan. He chose them and wants to bestow them with abundant benefits and make them happy. But the invited guests refuse to attend the banquet. The king then insists, he sends other servants to say: Here I have prepared my lunch: my oxen and my fattened animals are already slaughtered and everything is ready; come to the wedding. God’s insistence manifests his generosity. The guests again despise the invitation. It is incredible, but true! God offers us so many gifts, so much joy, but we often despise his offers, showing more interest in other things. Everyone goes to his own field, and business, instead of taking an interest in God's plan, which is the most beautiful thing of all. Everyone seeks his own satisfaction in secondary things that are unworthy of the human heart. The king's invitation even met hostile and aggressive reactions among the guests: Others took his servants, insulted them and killed them. This is also incredible! A generous invitation provokes aggression. The guests consider this invitation as a form of intrusion into their own life. At this point the king must intervene: he sends his troops to punish the killers. In the parable, it is said that he set their city on fire. Here we have a prophetic hint of the ruin of Jerusalem. Having rejected God's invitation, these people receive a disastrous fate. In the Gospel, Jesus says in Jerusalem: How many times have I wanted to gather your children like a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you did not want to! Here, your house is about to be left deserted (Luke 13,34-35; cf. Matt 23,37).
Then comes the second moment of the parable. The king does not want to give up his generous plan, and so he sends the servants to invite other people, who were not, originally, listed to be invited. The wedding banquet is ready, but the guests were not worthy; go now to the crossroads and all those you will find call them to the wedding. Here we see that the refusal of the first guests has the effect of extending the invitation to all men, even the poorest and the most dispossessed. This is a foreshadowing of the gospel preaching, after the death and resurrection of Jesus, to the pagans. The servants gather everyone they find, and the room is filled with guests. At this point the Gospel shows us a condition for the invitation to be accepted worthily. The king enters to see the guests and sees one who is not wearing the wedding dress. To attend a wedding banquet, you must be dressed appropriately. And certainly, the king will have made wedding dresses available to the guests. But one guest refused to wear one. The king says to him, Friend, how could you enter here without a wedding garment? But he doesn't answer. The king then orders the servants to bind him and throw him out. With this story Jesus wants to warn us. God's invitation is very generous, we do not deserve it at all. It also brings with it the gift of grace, which makes us worthy to participate in the banquet. We must accept, not only the invitation, but also the grace that makes us worthy. It is in fact, a grace which purifies, sanctifies and truly puts us in the conditions necessary to participate in divine communion in joy and happiness. If we refuse it, the invitation cannot be fully realised. We will, definitely, be excluded from the banquet or, rather, we will exclude ourselves from the banquet with our resistance to the grace. Divine generosity, therefore, needs our collaboration. God cannot purify a person who refuses grace, delights in evil, remains unruly and rebellious. He needs our loyalty and docility, in order to fill our hearts. We ask the Lord to help us to truly wear the wedding garment of grace. We must have it in order to receive Communion. The Church reminds us that if we have committed some serious faults, before receiving Communion we must purify ourselves with the sacrament of Confession. In order to receive all the love of the Lord, we must be in the grace of God. In this Mass we can become aware of this need. But we must first admire God’s generosity, who not only invites us, despite our unworthiness, to the wedding banquet of his Son, but also furnishes us with the nuptial dress, that is, the sacrament of Confession. Indeed, we lack nothing. We, therefore, only have to accept with docility and readiness all the gifts that the Lord gives us. +John I. Okoye
GRPHICS BY CHUKWUBIKE
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