Your Call to the Wedding Feast

Gospel of Matthew 22:1-14  “Behold I have prepared My banquet……..come to the feast” – in this Gospel, Jesus is speaking to His enemies – a lot of harshness – hidden behind that is a lot of mystery about your life – a mystery hidden by all the evil we experience in this world – the mystery is that your life is essentially an invitation to the kings wedding feast – great decision of our life is how will I respond to this invitation – it’s a personal response – no one else can make it for you – one thing we can do already at this Mass is to take a few minutes to reflect on that invitation – what is the invitation to – something that none of us has ever experienced – in this gospel scripture the Lord is comparing it to the wedding feast – in the first reading from Isaiah 25:6-10 there is another comparison about the feast on the mountain – “On this mountain, the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and pure choice wines – representing the joy, the delight of this experience –  “on this mountain He will destroy the veil….for the Lord has spoken” – it’s also the deliverance from all sorrow that has accumulated in our life – St. John of the Cross speaks of how difficult the approach to the Lord can be – but he also writes of the living flame of love – he was given a foretaste of the union of the soul with God – there is no human experience that can compare to this union with God – we need to be purified and transformed for this experience – who is called to this extraordinary experience? – Jesus stresses in the gospel that it is very ordinary people who are being called – the people are surprised that they are being called, it’s not just open to a select few – each one of us is also called – but there are obstacles to arriving there – two big obstacles – one is that it is hard to believe – like it is a scam – we might feel that we are so sinful and so unworthy that it can never be for us – so one of the main conditions is an act of trust – to believe that God is truly calling you – because of His mercy – the gospel mentions another obstacle in all the evil and attachments that distract us – devil is always trying to lure us into his traps – he is willing to offer any human treasures, if he can trap us by that way – that’s why often the very poverty we can experience, the emptiness, can make us much freer to respond – because it makes us much less attached, and easier to let go – example of St. Paul, who was making great use of his time on earth but was not trying to hold onto it at all – on the contrary, he was very willing to go – Jesus says, “many are called but few are chosen” – what does He mean by that – He doesn’t mean that God is at the door rejecting most of the people who are coming – He means that many who are called, do not respond – for this wedding invitation, each one of us has to make a personal response – God respects your freedom – you are free to respond or not – then the gospel speaks of a wedding garment –

What is that wedding garment – we have an indication in the book of Revelations – it says ”let us rejoice and exalt, give God the glory, for the marriage has come – that great moment after the battle when the marriage of the lamb is taking place – His bride, which is the Church, completely purified, the Church which is everyone who responds – so that can be you and I – and the bride has made herself ready – it was granted “to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure” – so what is that fine linen? – Bible says that the fine linen is “the righteous deeds of the faithful” – so this garment is our righteous deeds – at the time of the gospel, it was customary for the king to give each one a special garment to put on, as a sign of their participation – so the king was giving them an opportunity – and God gives us an opportunity right now to begin preparing, with His mercy and grace to begin preparing by our cooperation, to be ready and be properly prepared – but we also have to do our part – the guests that were rejected were the ones who didn’t bother to put on the wedding garment that was offered to them – so we have to cooperate – so our life is an invitation, and if we respond, our life can become our path to this wedding feast – Jesus comes down to earth and follows His path, with a lot of poverty, struggles, which leads Him to the cross, to the total gift of Himself – but it doesn’t end there – it goes to His resurrection – and to glory, which prepares the wedding feast of the Lamb – Jesus walked this journey and is now calling us to meet Him at this great wedding feast – so that’s the reason for the Holy sacrifice of the Mass – calling us to union with the sacrifice of Jesus – the union to Holy Communion with Jesus – the Holy Communion at Mass is leading us to the wedding feast of the Lamb – “Blessed are those who are called to the wedding feast of the Lamb – (the passage that is recalled right before Holy Communion) – as we celebrate this Mass, we can ask our Blessed Mother to help us respond – realize that by an act of faith, God is calling you personally, to His wedding feast – where you are called not to be just a guest, but called to be the ones who enter into the union with God – in spite of our unworthiness – what He needs from us is trust and faith – we can ask the Holy Spirit to help us let go of the things that are keeping us from responding – so at this Mass, with the Blessed Mother, and the Holy Spirit we can respond to the invitation to the wedding feast of the King