The gospel for the 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Cycle A) is the parable of the wedding feast from Matthew 22. The gospel has a short form, verses 1-10, and a long form, which add verses 11-14. Our priest this morning chose the short form, and in his homily, he focused on four questions asked when an invitation is received: the who, what, when, and where. The short form of his homily is that our king, God, invites each and every one of us to communion with him right here and right now.
It all seems so easy - too easy, actually. After all, my name is on the guest list, and I'm right here, and it's right now. If all I have to do is accept the invitation, then I should be golden. But in the long form of the gospel, verses 11-14, some of those who showed up, even though they were invited, were kicked out because they were improperly attired. And although Father covered four standard questions in his homily, a fifth begs to be asked. How?
Clearly, there's more to it than just being me, right here, right now, and saying, "I accept."
4 comments:
I'm with you. While I wasn't at St. A's today, (got to go to Holy Family TLM!), I read the Gospel as part of my penance yesterday.
I think the how could be two parted. One, the literal, how do we dress for this wedding ceremony. Two, the more figurative, is our soul ready for this wedding ceremony. Going a step further, do we keep ourselves and our souls ready for a wedding ceremony (aka final judgement) at all times?
Agreed, its not just a matter of accepting the invitation because you are supposed to but accepting it with love and zeal.
Too many of us accept the invitation, but for instance just sit there during Mass. It means nothing to our hearts, but we are there because we are told to, supposed to be, etc.
a good point. but the how gets tricky, because is it not Christ who clothes us in righteousness? but how do we know that we've been clothed?
Have we truly repented with all our heart,mind and soul? Have we whole-heartedly and unreservedly accepted Jesus as our one and only saviour, the son of God and received Him into our very being? Are we living a new life with within us, the spirit of God, loving, guiding, clothing us and supplying our every need? God knows.
Post a Comment