Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.
It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation. For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain.
Second reading Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20
I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. In any case, it was kind of you to share my distress. And my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Jesus said to the chief priests and elders: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’ But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them.
The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests. “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”
By Theresa Ballo
Being the hopeless romantic that I am, weddings always give me a joyous feeling. I remember in college, I would love to witness weddings of couples I do not know in UST. It was a habit going to Santissimo Rosario Parish after class and in most cases I am down, witnessing couples so in love with each other gives me hope and encouragement.
This is the parable that Jesus offers us today. A king sends out invitation twice to everyone on the occasion to his son’s wedding. A royal and grand wedding it is. But when he sends out his servants a second time to invite the guests, they all give lame excuses why they are unable to attend the wedding. The king got furious. He then sends his servants to invite every and anyone to the feast. So, the wedding hall was filled with guests. However, all is not as it seems. The king sees a guest who is not wearing proper attire and has this man removed from the celebration. The king had the final word of warning; “for many are called, but few are chosen.”
Imagine the king inviting Filipinos in his son’s wedding. Definitely, most guests will be asked to get out of the feast for not wearing proper wedding garments. We, Filipinos have our unique traditions for wedding feasts. The king also in the Gospel seems to be bipolar. Just in his son’s wedding, he gets to experience a wide range of emotions and reactions. And in the end, in rage he has a guest thrown out from the wedding! If the wedding is a symbol of the Kingdom of God and the King is God, are we going to be treated similarly?
All of us receives an invitations to God’s great feast. All meaning regardless of color, gender and status in life, we are all called to be part of His glory. How are you going to respond to the invitation? What will be your lame excuse? Probably, mine would have to be my laziness. Attending a wedding would require me to dress up, put some make up and wear heels. That would require so much effort. But then, if the host of the occasion is a friend, all the effort seems to be okay. Because I have established a relationship to the host, the effort becomes worth it. Same thing with God being the host of the occasion, if we have a strong connection and relationship with Him, saying “yes” again and again comes natural and easy.
There is a cost to God’s invitation. Accepting the invitation comes with great responsibility. We are given the choice to attend or not. If we do turn up, accepts the invitation. We are expected to arrive at the celebration ready and prepared to join the party. We are supposed to arrive dressed for the occasion. Do we take this literally? What do we have to wear exactly? I think since wedding feasts are celebration of love, we should carry love, compassion and forgiveness in God’s banquet. It is through how we live our daily lives and treat others that we make our attendance worthy as God’s guests. Each day may we do our best to be genuine, kinder, patient and more loving. Simply because our presence is the pleasure of Jesus in the meal given for His glory.
Prayer
Thank You for the invitation to be part of Your kingdom. Show us Your mercy as we make ourselves worthy of Your grace. Clothe us with the righteousness of Jesus. Help us as we strive to be faithful servants that go and invite others as well to the great wedding feast. Amen.
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