| by Angela (Lambert) Jendro |
October 15th, 2017 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gospel of Matthew 22:1-14 NAB
Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and elders of the people in, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come. A second time he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those invited: “Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast.”‘ Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘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 gathered 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. The king 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.”
Meditation Reflection:
Jesus often compares Heaven to a wedding feast. Weddings celebrate a sacred union in love of two persons. It means total gift of self and lifelong commitment. Marriage best represents God’s invitation to relationship with us and His desire for total self-gift. Though He made numerous covenants with the Hebrew people, He also made clear that He desired their hearts in addition to outward obedience, and authentic respect to mere lip service.
God is both transcendent and immanent. He is both God almighty who existed before creation and exceeds our understanding, and the God Who sent His Son to become incarnate, walk the earth with us, and suffer and die for us. Even now His Holy Spirit guides us and Christ is present to us in the sacraments and His Mystical Body the Church.
The book of Revelation beautifully prophecies the wedding of the Lamb to which we have each received an invitation. Christ – the Lamb, has come and His bride – the Church, has prepared her heart for him:
| “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, birth and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then He said to me, ‘Write, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”’ Revelation 19:7-9 |
Christ loves each and every person passionately. He pursues them, woos them, fights for them, and offers eternal union with Him in Heaven. In today’s Gospel however, He laments that not everyone says yes. They come up with excuses, put Him off, or avoid Him altogether. Eventually the door is shut. Harsh, you might say?
Jesus strikes at our complacency. We all too easily forget the gift of salvation, of our eternal destination, and our higher calling. The frenetic pace of life, the constant stream of tasks, or the allure of diversions become a dangerous siren call, singing that we are made for earth and we have all the time in the world.
However, every day we are one day closer to eternity. If we didn’t grow our love for the Lord then we weakened it. Love needs ongoing nurturing. Relationships are work! Even a relationship with God.
Moreover, sometimes indecision is a decision. Deadlines are part of reality. If I stay undecided about my son playing basketball, eventually the registration closes. If I hem and haw about planning a family trip, eventually a year passes without travel and I have essentially said no. Lastly, if a couple is in a serious relationship of several years and one person drags his/her feet about marriage, eventually the other will need to move on from the relationship to find someone else to build a life with.
Thankfully Jesus waits patiently our entire life. He reminds us today however, that death is the deadline. By that point we have said yes or no to the Lord and even our indecision reveals itself as a rejection of Christ.
But let’s not wait until the last moment. I have heard persons who put off kids, when they finally held their first in their arms say, “why did we wait so long?” Couples in love when they finally meet say “I wish I had met you sooner.” The more we love, the more we see how much greater it is than anything else we had previously thought to be more important. We will say the same of Christ – I wish I had let you in sooner.
We can ask ourselves, what holds us back from the wedding? What keeps me from union with the Lord? What do I need to do to prepare myself for this marriage? The King of Heaven and Earth has personally invited you. Drop everything, get dressed, and go!
Consider:
- The Mass is actually a mystical participation in the eternal wedding feast of the Lamb in heaven.
- What things or habits undermine getting to Mass or distract you during Mass?
- Is it sleeping in, kids’ activities, running errands, going into work, exercising instead, watching news, or just relaxing?
- What helps you enter more deeply into the Mass?
- Getting to know the priest and parishioners so you feel more a part of the community, reading the Gospel ahead of time, learning about the Mass, participating as a musician, greeter, usher, or extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, writing down key points from the homily?
- What things or habits undermine getting to Mass or distract you during Mass?
- Imagine you were to enter Heaven today. What aspects of your heart and character would Jesus praise you for, as clothing you in garments for the king? What vices or attitudes would He ask you to change in order to be properly dressed?
- The lives of the saints illustrate the transformation possible with the grace of God. Each began like you and me, but through relationship with Christ they were made perfectly ready for heaven by the end of their life. If you were to appear in a book of the Lives of the Saints, what would it say? Where would it begin, and how would you like it to end?
- We cannot perfect ourselves, but we can cooperate with the grace of Christ and let Him purify our hearts. Take a moment to offer a prayer of surrender the Lord. Offer to Him all your struggles, worries, imperfections, and desires.
| “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6 |
Make a Resolution (Practical Application):
- Do one thing each day this week to prepare for the eternal wedding feast of heaven. Change out of one garment of vice or unforgiveness, and put on a garment of virtue and love. As St. Peter says, “Above all, let your love for one another be intense, because love covers a multitude of sins.” (I Peter 4:8)
- Resolve to attend Mass every Sunday and make the necessary arrangements for that to happen.
- Spend five minutes with Christ when you first wake up, midday, and in the evening. Invite Him into your life right where you are at that moment.
- Read about the life of a saint. You could research a saint whose personality, experiences, or work is similar to yours. You could also just read about the saint of the day. Catholicculture.org gives a nice summary. Click on the tab “liturgical year” then select “today”.
- Learn more about the Mass. Attend a “teaching Mass” where the priest explains each of the parts as he celebrates it. Read a book about the Mass. Read “The Lamb’s Supper” by Scott Hahn which is about the relationship between the Mass and Heaven based on the book of Revelation.
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~ Written by Angela Jendro © 2017
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