It’s so
consoling to think of heaven as a wedding feast. I think that Jesus must have
loved wedding feasts and found them to be the closest analogy He could find to
give us a peek into what God has prepared for us. “The Kingdom of heaven may be
likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son." (Matthew 22:1-14)
The drama
builds when the people first invited simply don't respond. The king's response to them in the story
replays the whole history of God's working with the Chosen People and Jesus'
listeners knew it immediately. Now comes
the really good news: "Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite
to the feast whomever you find."
All along it was God's plan to offer salvation and the joys of the
Kingdom of heaven, not only to a chosen few, but to everyone! The victory Jesus will win over sin and death
is universal. It’s for all people.
Then, like
most great parables, the story takes a surprising twist. One of the invited guests doesn't have a
wedding garment. (It seems apparent that
the person is without a wedding garment out of ingratitude and lack of serious
respect for the king. It’s not that the
guest couldn't afford one.) While the
invitation is universal; that is, it’s free and unmerited, there’s also a
universal call to holiness. We’re called
to receive the gifted invitation by living our lives as grateful guests. We’re invited to be with Jesus by being like
Him. We’re called to come to the banquet
ready to celebrate because we’ve been ready and open to giving our lives in
imitation of the one who invited us.
How often it
seems that we who have been invited to be part of the kingdom of heaven, simply
take it for granted, as if all this gifted relationship with Jesus is about is
our salvation. We seem quite satisfied
to know that we’re saved. We can
unconsciously act as though, "Well if I don't do anything seriously wrong,
I'm in. What more do I need to worry
about?"
I think this
parable makes it clear that our holiness has to "surpass that of the
scribes and pharisees." (Matthew 5:20)
Jesus wants us to know that “it is mercy that I desire, not
sacrifice." (Matthew 9:13) One of His final parables will tell us that our
judgement—the decision about whether we ultimately will enter the Kingdom of
heaven—depends upon whether we care for the "least of my brothers and
sisters"—feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for the sick and
the imprisoned. (Matthew 25)
In our
prayers, we should ask for the grace to receive the invitation worthily, then
respond more and more fully to Jesus' invitation to love as we have been
loved. Let’s see, feel, and act upon the
invitation to eternal life by dying to ourselves a bit more every day,
particularly in each of our relationships.
Let's forget about our own wounds and become healers of others'
wounds. Let’s open our hearts to hear
the cries of all those who are poor and on the margins of our societies. Let’s ask ourselves how we can respond, what
role we can take, and how we can make a difference. Let's put on a wedding garment, committing
ourselves, and witnessing to everyone, that we’re definitely ready for the
banquet of heaven.
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