Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

As you reflect on the Gospel reading for this Sunday in the 28th week, you may find yourself a bit puzzled. And if puzzled, it means that you are thinking!

Why does the king dismiss a guest for not being dressed properly when, just a few verses earlier, he had ordered the servants to summon to the banquet “anyone they might find on the byroads?” Could it not be that the poor fellow who was not properly dressed had been working in the field all day and was returning home? Or might this be a needy street person? Suppose, further, that you were leading some poor people into an overnight shelter. Would you expect them to be already fed, bathed, and rested? Or if you ran a soup kitchen, would you expect the guests to employ their best table manners? And what about your pastor’s column in the parish bulletin?

If he were to urge his people to take part in a Penance and Reconciliation Service, would he also require them to be saints already, rather than sinners?

Part of our dilemma is that this Gospel reading, as we have it in the Lectionary, includes two parables. The second one, although itself very good, is regarded as optional in the liturgy today, so as not to complicate the dilemma which remains to be resolved.

Both of these parables were passed down from Rabbi Jesus through oral tradition. Both concern a wedding. Matthew chose to put them together when he prepared to render the Good News in written form. Notice that the first and longer parable features a cast of characters. The king represents God. The wedding feast is God’s kingdom. Those on the original guest list are God’s special people (the Israelites), and the guests summoned last are to represent all the non-Jewish people and those like us who are sinners.

One particular question about the wedding feast is emphasized, namely, whether those invited will actually listen and respond readily to the invitation. We Christians should pose this question regarding ourselves. “How much do I react like those first invitees did, giving priority to my business, my slumber, my hobby, or my golf game, rather than to the Person who issued the invitation?”

Surely, from time to time and in various ways, all of us hold back and seek excuses, despite the fact that we have accepted the invitation and try, for a while, to act in accord with it. Attending Mass is one example. A related question is: “Do we attend Mass with the strong conviction that we do this because we are the Lord’s redeemed chosen ones? Do we do good willingly in most other areas of our life – without excuses, equivocation, or delay?”

God invites us – you, me, and many other people – to prepare ourselves, to join up and come ahead. Let us celebrate gladly this wonderful wedding feast!

Reflection by Fr. Quentin Kathol, OSB