Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
A hometown wedding! Can you think of anything that carries more excitement, joy, anticipation, and a sense of family? There are so many customs and preparations that need to be attended to. The many roles range all the way from the cute little flower girl who diligently drops the flower petals one by one as she makes her way hesitantly down the aisle to all the super well-dressed adults stressing about music, liturgy, flowers, candles, rings, tables, chairs, cake, caterers, and refreshments.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus, always the master teacher, catches our attention with the story of a royal wedding that was threatened with disaster. We can imagine the emotional pressure building behind the scenes after several attempts to invite the honored guests resulted in the messengers being disrespected and even killed.
Perhaps the true value of the story can take us even deeper than the rude and bad behavior of those who were invited. Each of us can remember some significant personal moment, perhaps long anticipated with joyful expectation to be shared with special people. Unfortunately, the anticipation was dashed, dismissed, and rejected by people who should have known better. The result was a mixture of hurt feelings and some anger.
The king’s wedding story in the Gospel provides some powerful examples in dealing with personal disappointments. The king reacted in two ways. His first reaction was destructive anger, punishing and even eliminating those who dared to reject his personal invitation. His second was no less emotional than the first angry response. Only the compelling desire to fill the wedding hall for a joyful celebration could explain the king’s rash decision to gather any and all nameless people into the room. We can wonder if the pain of his first disappointment that might have hardened into bitterness did, in this case, actually move the king to an expanded appreciation of hospitality. By welcoming all, especially the nameless, he was courageously expanding his own capacity to celebrate and counteracting the small-minded and selfish motivation of the first intended group.
We might ask ourselves whether deep disappointments in the past may have limited our ability to anticipate an event without fear and negative memories. The new attitude of trusting in the Spirit of the Lord will open our eyes in gratitude and allow us to welcome great expectations.
Reflection by Fr. Daniel Petsche, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections