28th Sunday of the Year A; October 15, 2023

 

We pray through the graces of this holy Mass that we be always ready to honour Christ’s invitation, whence we are received, renewed, and welcomed into the beatific vision. Happy Sunday!

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DOCTRINE AND FAITH

Isaiah 25,6-10a; Psalm 22 (23); Philippians,4, 12-14.19-20; Matthew 22,1-14. 28th Sunday of the Year A; October 15, 2023)

 

The image of the banquet dominates this Sunday’s liturgy. The psalmist echoes the prophet Isaiah, who announces a banquet of rich foods and excellent wines, certain that the shepherd will prepare a table in front of him. And Jesus reveals how the Father fulfills his promise: “Behold, I have prepared my lunch; my oxen and the fattened animals are already killed and everything is ready; come to the wedding!” (Matt 22,4).

Let us first of all observe the context in which this new parable is inserted. Jesus has already told two other parables, which we heard the previous Sundays: the parable of the two sons sent into the vineyard and that of the murderous tenants. The parables have a double effect: understanding and conversion. In addition to making himself understood, Jesus wishes to solicit the conversion of his interlocutors, because the mystery of the Kingdom opens up only to those who decide for it. The two parables told achieve the first result, not the second. Jesus’ interlocutors understand well (cf. Matt 21,45), but instead of converting, they decide to capture Jesus: “They tried to capture him, but they were afraid of the crowd because they considered him a prophet” (Matt 21,46). Matthew chapter 21 concludes with this tragic annotation. Faced with this refusal, how does Jesus respond? “He resumed speaking to them in parables and said…” (Matt 22,1). Jesus does not give up but continues to offer, even to his adversaries, a word that once again becomes, even for them, an appeal to conversion, a free offer of salvation. Jesus thus reveals himself not only as the Son (for whom the king prepares a sumptuous wedding feast) but also as the servant sent to call everyone to the wedding, despite the refusal of the first guests. The invitation is free. Everything’s ready. Nothing is asked in return. All you need to do is accept a call, which appears more attractive than the one contained in the previous parables. Indeed, it is no longer a matter of going to work in a vineyard, facing “the weight of the day and the heat” (Matt 20,12); now it's about joining in the joy of a wedding party! How will someone not accept this invitation? We are surprised by the refusal of the first guests. We struggle to understand it. But aren’t so many of our refusals similar to the invitations of God, who desires nothing more than to share with us his joy and love for the Son and (in him) for us, his children? With his parable, Jesus above all wants to help us open our eyes to the senselessness of our denials, of our going elsewhere to take care of something else, without recognizing the hidden beauty in what we do not know how to welcome. However, this is not the central point of the parable.

More than on our behavior, Jesus’ gaze rests, on the behavior of the Father, who responds to our refusal with a new, patient, tenacious, persevering invitation, such as to fill the room with diners in any case. Our refusals do not prevent God from carrying out his feast; on the contrary, they mysteriously expand it: if before the guests were few and selected, now all are invited, even “bad and good” (Matt 22,10), without distinction. However, the mysterious character/person of the last scene remains: the guy who is kicked out because he showed up at the party without a wedding dress. Even more enigmatic are the words with which Jesus comments on his attitude: “For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matt 22,14). We find it hard to understand. It would have been clearer if Jesus had said: many are called, few respond. Jesus, on the other hand, does not dwell on our answer, positive or negative, but on the fact that we are “chosen”. Called, elected: both verbs are in the passive; therefore they allude not so much to our attitude, but to the action of the one who calls and elects, who chooses. How is this to be understood, then?

Here is a possible answer: it is not enough to be aware of being called, we must perceive ourselves as “chosen”, chosen because loved because preferred. The elect par excellence is the Son, Jesus Christ: and he is the beloved, the favorite; and it is for him (for the love he has for him) that the Father prepares this wedding feast. But in him, in the Son, the Father also gives each of us a similar love of choice and predilection. We are not just guests at a banquet, a sign of the Father's love for the Son. We are more than invited, we are elected, that is, we too are loved children and it is also for us that the Father wishes to celebrate. Many hear this call, but few manage to perceive it for what it is: a sign of the chosen love that the Father has for each of us. Not savoring this love, we end up putting something else before it - our business, our chores - and we decline the invitation, or we welcome it, but without wearing the wedding dress, which is still a filial dress. It is the garment of his son; it is the dress of those who recognize themselves as loved; of those who know that they are not only a guest at a party, but that they are the protagonist because they are an accomplished and favorite son, in Jesus, like Jesus. + John I. Okoye.