Homilies

28th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: THE PARABLE OF THE WEDDING FEAST

THE PARABLE of the wedding feast summarizes the long history of God’s dealings with man. It is God’s will that all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of his truth. He offers to humanity the gift of salvation. He revealed himself to humanity so that the latter would have a share in God’s inner life and salvific blessings. But not all responded positively to his invitation. Among those who rejected his invitation were the Jews, particularly the chief  priests and elders of the people to whom the parable was addressed. Jesus was at the point of being arrested by them, but he continued to address them in parables because it is not yet too late for divine mercy.

Let us try to go back to some important moments in the gospel parable. Jesus likened the kingdom of God to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. The wedding feast was the high point of the wedding festivities and it was such a great privilege and honor to be invited to it.

First, the invited guests were summoned but they refused to come. Refusal was the response of the invited guests. This was the case of the Jews in relation to words of the prophets. For us, Filipinos, we seldom refuse invitations. Often, we say “yes” to invitations, even if our “yes” actually means “no”. But that is actually a subtle form of refusal. Refusal is a deliberate act of rejection. Like, for instance, the Lord always invites us for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist every Sunday. But even if people have the time, or are free, they prefer to simply sleep at home because the Sunday observance is not significant to their life.

Second, the invited guests were told to come because the wedding feast was ready. But “some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business”. In this second invitation, there was a sense of urgency because the feast is already prepared. But they denied the urgency and went to one’s personal business. Again, let us talk about the celebration of the holy Eucharist. Some people do not deliberately refuse, but they simply ignore it. It is not that they find the holy Eucharist as unimportant. It is also important but they find other things or concerns as more important than it. For instance, doing homework, on the part of students, is more important than going to the Mass. Or attending a birthday party is considered as more important than going to the holy Mass. So, there are wrong priorities in life.

Third, those who were invited were not worthy to come. So all the servants had found, the good and the bad alike, were invited and they filled the hall. But when the king came to meet the guests, he noticed a man who did not wear a wedding garment. And he was punished by the king. The garment that is expected in each one of us refers to a life of conversion, a life that is in accord with the mind of Christ. Yes, sinners are also invited to the kingdom of God or to the eschatological banquet, but first, they need to repent. Jesus loves sinners, but he always make it a point that they repent; that is the way how he brings back to the Father. Jesus emphasizes this often during his encounter with sinners. “But do not sin anymore” are the parting words of Jesus to the sinner.

We said our “yes” to the invitation of Jesus when we received the sacrament of baptism. But let us try to examine what has happened to that “yes”. It may happen that the yes has now been turned into a “no.” If this has happened, let us try to correct that. Conversion and repentance should always be part of our day-to-day existence.
 

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