Invitations refused, invitations accepted and invitations betrayed
Year A – 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Matthew 22:1–14: “Everything is ready; come to the wedding feast!”
For five Sundays now Jesus has been speaking to us through parables. Today’s parable – that of the guests invited to the wedding feast of the king’s son – is the third addressed to the religious leaders and those responsible for the people, following those of the two sons sent to work in the vineyard and of the murderous tenants.
The setting in time and place in which Jesus tells these three parables is particularly significant and dramatic. We are in the Temple, on the day after his solemn entry into Jerusalem. In other words, we are on… Holy Monday. It is the final opportunity to stir the soul of the people and of their political and religious leaders, and to make them aware of the gravity of the hour.
1. A strange and improbable parable
Today’s parable recalls that of the murderous tenants which we heard last Sunday. In this case, however, it is more complex. The account seems to bring together two parabolic units: that of the guests invited to the wedding feast (vv. 1–10) and that of the wedding garment (vv. 11–14). One need only read Saint Luke’s version to see this, for there the message is much simpler and more direct (see Luke 14:15–24). Saint Matthew, to the parable of the universal call addressed to all, as presented by Saint Luke, wanted to add a second part addressed to the Christian community, making the account more complex and, in certain respects, improbable.
The parable speaks of a banquet prepared by a king for his son’s wedding, and therefore of an occasion of celebration and joy. Yet three unusual elements are introduced into the story, elements which clash with the festive atmosphere: 1) the refusal and even the violent reaction of the first guests; 2) the sending of the army to kill the murderers and burn their city; 3) when the hall is finally filled with new guests gathered from the crossroads, the king’s harsh treatment of one of them, who was not wearing a wedding garment.
How are we to understand the parable?
In the first part, addressed to the political and religious leaders of Israel, Saint Matthew seems to present the history of salvation in allegorical form. The first two groups of servants represent the prophets sent to the People of God, perhaps before and after the exile. The city set on fire may evoke the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. The third group of messengers would represent the apostles and missionaries, sent into the world to invite everyone to enter the banquet of the Kingdom.
The second part of the parable, that of the guest without a wedding garment, on the other hand, seems to be addressed to the Christian community as a warning about the conditions required in order to take part in the banquet.
What is the message of the parable?
The first part reveals God’s universal call, now addressed to everyone, bad and good alike, excluding no one. God’s invitation crosses every boundary and now reaches all peoples: “Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). Thus is fulfilled what Isaiah prophesied: “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will prepare for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of fine wines, of succulent food, of choice wines” (see the first reading, Isaiah 25:6–10).
The second part of the parable, however, stresses that accepting the invitation is not enough: we must be converted, that is, attune ourselves to the joy of the messianic wedding feast of the King’s Son and enter into fellowship with all those at table.
Let us focus our attention on this twofold message.
2. An invitation to the feast: Come to the wedding!
“Look, I have prepared my banquet… and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast!”
The whole of Sacred Scripture could be reread in the light of the word “invitation”: an invitation to celebrate, to rejoice, to share in the life of God, in his wedding of love with humanity. Unfortunately, the prevailing view of life as suffering and sacrifice has distorted our perception of existence and negatively affected our relationship with God and our practice of the faith.
Creation, our very coming into existence, is already an invitation to the banquet of life. We are called to joy and to sharing in fraternity. This understanding of life as an invitation, however, is not shared by everyone. Many prefer to behave as they please. For them, life is a private affair. They act with that grasping and predatory attitude of which we spoke last Sunday. Some even go so far as to mistreat those who remind them that life is, rather, an invitation from God to rejoice together. The resulting scene of destruction and death is before everyone’s eyes. What the parable presents, in metaphorical language, as divine punishment is often nothing other than the natural consequence of our choices.
Here, then, is the first message of the parable: to change our perspective on life, on the Christian vocation and, in particular, on the Eucharist, the memorial of a revolutionary vision of existence.
We cannot fail to notice how very often our celebrations are anything but a joyful banquet. How can we give them that touch of joy and festivity? It is difficult to say. But one thing we can affirm: everything begins, first and foremost, with a change of mind and heart in each one of us. The spirit of the parable makes us think that the Kingdom of God will not resemble an immense cathedral where everyone is gathered in adoration and contemplation, singing angelic hymns. Rather, it makes us imagine an immense cosmic hall where everyone is celebrating amid a cheerful and delightful confusion!
Here is the urgent conversion needed by the Church: to open herself to the newness and joy of the Holy Spirit. Then every guest will become an “angel”, a messenger, an apostle, a missionary, and the banquet hall will be filled!
3. Where is your wedding garment?
“Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?”
We do not know for certain which concrete custom the wedding garment in the story refers to, but it seems that in the ancient East the king would also provide the guests with a garment for the wedding, perhaps a kind of festive scarf. The person found without the wedding garment, however, had inexplicably refused it, thereby dishonouring the invitation.
What is the wedding garment for us?
Some commentators see it as moral uprightness, others as Christian commitment, especially charity and service.
In any case, we should evoke the biblical resonances of the theme of the garment. We find it at the beginning, when humanity becomes aware of being naked and God clothes it with garments of skin (Genesis 3). We find it again in Christ, naked on the cross, stripped of his garments. Finally, it reappears in Revelation, when the bride is given “fine linen, bright and pure” (19:8).
It is particularly helpful to remember that, in the New Testament, the Christian life is often compared to the new garment put on at baptism: “As many of you as were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Galatians 3:27).
To be found without the wedding garment, therefore, may mean wanting to take part in the “banquet” in our own way, wearing the familiar clothes of our old habits. But we cannot present ourselves in the rags of our former life. Nor is it enough to put a patch of new cloth on an old garment (Luke 5:36). The invitation may be accepted outwardly yet betrayed in one’s life.
The parable ends with Jesus’ warning: “Many are called, but few are chosen.” All are called, but few accept the invitation to let themselves be “clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14).
It is not enough to answer the invitation: we must honour it!
Fr Manuel João Pereira Correia, MCCJ
Fr. Manuel João, comboni missionary
Sunday Reflection
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