Mother Church invites us to celebrate Sunday, October 15, 2023, as the twenty eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year A. In the Entrance Antiphon we pray: “If you, O Lord, laid bare our guilt, who could endure it? But you are forgiving, God of Israel. Amen.”
This day’s liturgy speaks to us of God’s boundless generosity. He gives us all we need from his goodness. This comes out clearly in the first reading where the prophet Isaiah tells us about God’s banquet where he receives the righteous. “The Lord will prepare a banquet for all people and will wipe away tears from every cheek,” he tells us. This beautiful message is re-echoed in Matthew’s Gospel of the wedding feast, which reminds the Israelites, and us, that God invites everyone, good or bad, to His heavenly banquet. He is our God and so wishes the best for all of us. But the question is, do we accept his invitation? And if we do, are we wearing the wedding garment. In other words, are we worthy of his call through a life of permanent conversion; our wedding garment being our ability or willingness to reject sin and embrace the light of salvation brought to us by Christ Jesus. In his Letter to the Philippians, in the second reading, Saint Paul expresses his appreciation for the material assistance given to him by his Christians of Philippi. He then urges them to continue to imitate him as he, in turn, imitates Christ Jesus, the Saviour. Let us pray for the grace of conversion so we can eagerly accept Christ’s invitation to the feast he has prepared for us in heaven.
First Reading: Isaiah 25: 6-10
On this mountain the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines. On this mountain he will destroy the veil that veils all peoples, the web that is woven over all nations; he will destroy death forever. The Lord God will wipe away the tears from every face; the reproach of his people he will remove from the whole earth; for the Lord has spoken. On that day it will be said: "Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us! This is the Lord for whom we looked; let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!" For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain.
Comment
The restoration of Jerusalem after her ruin in the hands of Babylonians gives the prophet Isaiah the opportunity to picture the messianic age. The image of the banquet in the presence of God arises early in the Bible, since Moses and the elders ate and drank in God’s company on Mount Sinai. Jerusalem is linked with the mountain of God, the place of his revelation to Israel.
The prophet Isaiah tells us that the Lord has prepared a special feast for all the nations on Mount Zion. There he will provide fine food and fine wines - a symbolic reference to the divine feast that God will provide and which surpasses anything that man can imagine. God provides good food and wine to the righteous just as Christ in Jerusalem provides his divine nourishment, his own Body and Blood, which strengthens the soul and is a pledge of the future glory.
The prophet tells his people that God will destroy death for ever. This is an assurance that God will never destroy Israel. Saint Paul also quotes this verse from Isaiah when he rejoices that the resurrection of Christ marks the definitive victory of life over death (1 Cor 15: 54-55). The same message appears in the Book of Revelation, when John proclaims the salvation that has been wrought by the Lamb who had died and risen again: “he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Rev 21:4).
The Church, too, speaks in similar vein in her prayer for the dead, beseeching God to receive them into his Kingdom: “There we hope to share in your glory when every tear will be wiped away. On that day we shall see you, our God, as you are. We shall become like you and praise you forever through Christ our Lord, from whom all good things come” (Roman Missal, Eucharistic Prayer III).
Let us pray with the Psalmist to God who abounds in generosity: “Lord, you are my shepherd and there is nothing I shall want. Fresh and green are the pastures where you give me rest; near restful waters you lead me, to revive my drooping spirits. You guide me along the right path; you are true to your name. If I should walk in the valley of darkness, no evil would I fear because you are there with your crook and staff to give me comfort. (Ps 23: 1-4). Through Jesus Christ, the risen Lord, who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.”
Second Reading: Philippians 4: 12-14; 19-20
Brothers and sisters: I know how to live in humble circumstances; I know also how to live with abundance. In every circumstance and in all things I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry, of living in abundance and of being in need. I can do all things in him who strengthens me. Still, it was kind of you to share in my distress. My God will fully supply whatever you need, in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father, glory forever and ever. Amen.
Comment
Last Sunday, we heard Paul expressing his joy in his converts of Philippi, whom he loves and longs for their company from his prison cell. Even though he lives under difficult physical conditions, he still shows them that being joyful does not depend on their physical conditions.
In this Sunday’s reading, we hear Saint Paul appreciating the financial assistance he receives from his community of Philippi. This in itself expresses the special relationship he has with the Church at Philippi, as he never accepts assistance from other communities, his common policy being not to accept material aid so as to leave no one in doubt about the purity of his intentions in preaching the Gospel (1 Cor 9: 18; 2 Cor 12: 14-18). This means that he is also preaching the virtue of poverty, being content with what he has now. He views their offering as a share in his own toiling for the Gospel.
Paul’s spirit here is one of optimism. He communicates this spirit to the Philippians by exhorting them to imitate him, and by so doing, he gives them a motive for rejoicing. His financial and social stature is of no consequence compared with the strength that comes from God. His thanks to the Philippians is more than can be expressed in words; it is an inspiration to rely on God and act on his standards only.
Here Saint Paul gives us an insight into the value of generosity. He is not asking the Philippians for donations, as he can survive without them; he is praising them for their goodness. Since God is the one who rewards men for their actions, then clearly a person who gives alms ultimately benefits more than he who receives alms. As a reward for their almsgiving, the Philippians will receive nothing more than the eternal glory won for us by Christ Jesus. For, as Saint Leo the Great recommends, “whoever gives alms should do so with detachment and joy, for the less he keeps back for himself, the greater will be his gain.”
Let us pray for the grace of generosity especially during this time of the corona pandemic. May the Holy Spirit teach us to give, especially to the poor, the needy, the widow and the orphan. We make our supplication through Christ, the risen Lord, who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.
Gospel acclamation: “Alleluia, alleluia. The word was made flesh and lived among us: to all who did accept him, he gave power to become children of God. Alleluia.”
Gospel: Matthew 22: 1-14.
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."
Comment
In today’s Gospel we have two parables from Saint Matthew: the parable of the wedding feast and the parable of the wedding garment. A king invites guests to the wedding feast of his son. The great feast was a popular Jewish image for the joy of the life to come. The king is God Father himself. As we heard in today’s first reading: “On this mountain, the Lord of hosts will prepare for all people a banquet of rich food, a banquet of fine wines.” The image of God in the tradition and in the parable speaks of a generous host who knows how to throw a good party.
When the wedding feast is prepared, the king sends his servants to inform those already invited that the feast is now ready. The servants sent out to bring the invited guests represent the prophets of Israel; the invited guests who refuse to come, stand for the chosen people of Israel. The king sends out a second group of servants to plead with his guests to honour the invitation; those servants represent the first apostles and their mission to Israel. The original invitation speaks of God’s gracious call to his chosen people; the second invitation underlines the patience of God – even when everything is ready, he still hopes there will be a change of heart.
As Saint Matthew puts it, the consequences of the refusal were terrible. The armies sent by the king are a figure of the Roman armies that would besiege and capture Jerusalem in the year AD 70, demolishing the Temple and burning down the city. Finally, the extension of the invitation to the highways and byways represents the carrying of the Gospel to the Gentiles, after the Jewish people have rejected Christ.
The second parable, that of the wedding garment is likely to lead us to forget the central image of God as a gracious host who hopes that everyone will come to his banquet. How can we explain the king’s action when he finds among those invited from the streets one without the proper wedding attire. He then asks that he be bound hands and feet and thrown into the outer darkness. What did the poor man do except answer the king’s invitation to the banquet? And is this the way to treat a guest?
To understand this parable, it is perhaps important to know that during Jewish festivities, guests would be welcomed at the door where they were given water to wash their hands, faces and feet and then a robe would be thrown around their shoulders before they could enter the festivity room. That must have been what happened at this king’s feast. The unfortunate fellow, who came in without the wedding garment, must likely not have come in through the right door. He probably sneaked in through the window and could therefore not have been a welcome guest. He would most likely be treated as a thief, which seems to have been the case here.
Whatever explanation we may give to this incident, it is more appropriate to consider the wedding garment as representing the condition for entering the Lord’s banquet. In other words, it represents our conversion, which is indispensable for our taking our place around the Lord’s table in heaven. At the final judgement for the good and the bad, only those who are clothed in goodness and in generosity, the generosity Saint Paul talks about in the second reading, will be invited to the banquet of life.
God calls the good and the bad and only those who are dressed appropriately for the occasion, that is, those who have given up their old ways and embraced the way of the Lord, the way of love of God and of one’s neighbor, will find a place. If we wear the clothes he prescribes, that is the clothes of conversion and a pure heart, he will never throw us out of his banquet. Let us pray to the Holy Spirit to accompany us on this our journey that leads to the banquet of life in our Lord’s kingdom. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit one God forever and ever. Amen.
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