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Jesus Teaches in the Synangogue

This Sunday in our Church
Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Readings for Mass
First Reading: Isaiah 25:6-10
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 23:1-3, 3-4, 5, 6
Second Reading: Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20

Gospel:
Matthew 22:1-14 or 22:1-10

Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and elders of the people
in parables, 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."

Sermon by Fr. Larry Gillick, S.J.

We hear a strictly messianic prophesy in our First Reading. Israel had often been referred to in terms of vine and vineyard. It is a hopeful invitation in which there is a hint of a new kind of mountain with a new presentation of God’s goodness.

"On this mountain" God will be doing something mighty and surprising. All people [not just Israelites] will be invited to this banquet. The veil of death will be removed and all will see the goodness of the redeeming God. "On this mountain" the hand of the saving God will rest with all reproaches wiped away. God will be seen, the God for Whom all look for comfort. The banquet and the mountain are images of the person, the messiah, who will welcome, feed and guard all peoples.

The Gospel continues the series of parables Jesus is speaking to the elders and chief priests of the people. His little story is clear to them, because it is about them. The king, the servants, the first group of invitees, the second group of invitees, are all lined up for the narrative.

God has set a bountiful table for true living. The Jewish nation is the first called, but when they were invited by the prophets, they went to find true life elsewhere. These prophets were mistreated and murdered.

The king got mad and sent other servants to call in all kinds of others, "bad and good." The single element which is confusing is about the fellow who is not dressed properly.

Who is that?

I remember going to a dance in high school at an all-girls academy. I was dressed well enough to pass my mother’s close inspection. Upon arriving at the door of the gym, I was not allowed in, because I did not have a suit coat on. I had a tie and sweater, but not the right apparel. Obviously they didn’t know who I was, but the name would not have gotten me in either.

If I had worn a sports coat I would have been admitted, but once in, my behavior would have had to be acceptable as well. If I had caused trouble, I, like this fellow in the Gospel, would have been tossed out. I know this, because this very thing happened to me.

This fellow of the Gospel was called and admitted into the banquet, but what he was not wearing were the deeds and attitudes appropriate to the chosen.

Believing is the beginning, the entrance to the dance, but living on the outside what is inside is the ticket to stay.

It is a two-edged story then. The elders and chief priests know what Jesus is thinking about them. Those who say they are following Jesus hear what He expects of them. They are dressed properly for the feast, but will they behave according to their beliefs?

(cont'd in comments)

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