FEASTING AT THE BANQUET OF GOD
          The comparison of Jesus of the Kingdom of God to a wedding banquet was thoroughly a Jewish idea. The Jews believed that when the Messiah comes and the new age dawns one great event would be a banquet at which all sit down. Jesus took over that old idea and used it, and that He did so is extremely significant.
          By virtue of being created in the image and likeness of God, we are all invited to partake in the banquet of heaven, and God continues to summon and invite all of us to this joyful feast. But, just like the invited guests who refused to come, one could also make excuses not to take seriously God’s invitation to a life of holiness and true joy. “Oh, I don’t really have time for Church—I am so busy taking care of so many things”, or “I don’t really have time to pray —I’m juggling my responsibilities at work and for family; I hardly have time for myself.”  Or, sometimes one would say, “my favorite football team is playing at the same time Mass begins, God will understand if I miss Mass – anyway, this just happens a few times in a year.”  Well, if you know that the game will happen at the same time as your usual Mass time, then plan ahead to attend a different Mass time during that weekend. God is not a brat who is not willing to compromise; the most important thing is that we take the relationship seriously. If a relationship is important to us, whenever there are conflicts of schedule, we do try to adjust other schedules in order to show to the person that the relationship is being valued. There are so many excuses that one could come up with in order to refuse God’s invitation of deeper communion with him. One thing that we sometimes fail to realize is that all the things that we value — material things, favorite hobbies, and significant relationships that we place over God —all came about because of his graciousness and generosity, so these should not be in conflict or in competition with the time and attention that are supposed to be dedicated to God. I was very puzzled as I was reading the gospel as to why the original invited guests had to kill the servants who were asked to summon them. Why couldn’t they just say, “no,” and then move on? There are times when the invitation of God’s kingdom is so opposed to what we believe and value that one pretends that God doesn’t exist anymore. There is that desire to totally eliminate him because to deal with God is to make one realize how messed up their life is, or to be open to the Gospel means that I have to change my priorities, give up my sinful ways and vices, and I just can’t do that. I just have to pretend that he doesn’t exist so that I can continue with whatever addiction, sinful lifestyle that I find my fleeting happiness. Do you ever wonder why at Mass, which is a banquet – a prefiguration of the heavenly feast — the first thing that the priest does at the beginning of Mass is to invite us to recall our sins? If this is a banquet and is supposed to be a joyful feast, why does the priest want me to feel horrible about myself at the very beginning of the celebration? Why can’t we do the penitential rite towards the end of the Mass? Because, we know that we won’t be able to enter fully into the joy of the celebration – into the joy of feast — if we are not reconciled yet to the host. It would be very awkward to be at the feast knowing that we are not yet in good terms with the host. God wants to eliminate that awkwardness; he wants us to be able to enter into the true spirit and joy of the celebration. That’s why, right after the priest says, “may almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins and bring us to everlasting life”, we truly sing with a loud and confident voice, the Gloria: “Glory to God in the highest.”  The point is conversion of heart – turning to the Lord is a necessary step in order to fully enter into the banquet.  That’s why we say that in order to partake fully in the Eucharistic banquet we have to be in a state of grace.
          This brings us to the last portion of the Gospel when the king saw a guest not in a wedding garment, and he was evicted from the banquet. How could a king condemn a man for not having a wedding garment when he had just unexpectedly been picked from the streets or the lanes, or the highways, or the hedges, with no chance of preparation? Well, this is a theological metaphor. It doesn’t mean that when we are invited to the banquet of heaven that we can just enter there on our own terms — there are standards for God’s kingdom. In fact, at the very beginning of our incorporation to the Church in baptism , we were all reminded of this sublime reality. Children who are to be baptized are often dressed in white baptismal garments, and this is deeply symbolic of the new life bestowed on the baptized. Hear these words of the priest in baptism in reference to the white garment, “N, you have become a new creation and have clothed yourself in Christ. See in this white garment the outward sign of your Christian dignity. With your family and friends to help you by word and example, bring that dignity unstained into the everlasting life of heaven.” Amazing — as soon as we are received into the Church, we are always being reminded to keep our Christ-given dignity unstained until we go back again to God to enter into the heavenly wedding feast.  And, how do we keep that baptismal garment unstained? By leading a life according to the Gospel and living out faithfully our unique vocation. Same thing with the white bridal gown in a wedding – it is white because it symbolizes the union of Christ to his Church, reminding the couple that what they are entering into is something holy, and that their ultimate task as husband and wife is to bring each other to heaven, where the ultimate wedding feast will take place.  It is our prayer and hope that when our invitation comes to enter into the heavenly wedding feast, our baptismal garment is not soiled. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be caught not in the right dress because when our King, God the Father, asks me why, I will be speechless because I have no excuse. If you know that your baptismal garment is soiled now, there is still some time to wash it clean. Father Anthony and I operate a very busy “laundry area” every Saturday at the back of the Church, and you don’t need coins to operate the machine. It’s for free! Convert your life to the Gospel, embrace the Lord, and lead a life according to your call. – Fr. Cary