Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

MATTHEW 22:1-14
IF YOU ARE LIKE ME, YOU DON'T HAVE ANY PROBLEM WITH THIS PARABLE UNTIL YOU COME TO THE MAN WHO IS BOUND HAND AND FOOT AND THROWN OUT INTO THE DARKNESS WHERE THERE WILL BE WEEPING AND GNASHING OF TEETH. IT JUST DOESN'T SEEM FAIR. HE WAS OUT THERE MINDING HIS OWN BUSINESS WHEN THE KING'S SERVANTS CAME AND PROBABLY WITH A LITTLE BIT OF FORCE, INVITED HIM TO THE FEAST. AND HE DIDN'T HAVE A WEDDING GARMENT. AND HE HAD NO EXCUSE. AND THE KING HAD HIM THROWN OUT, NOT JUST THROWN OUT, BUT TIED UP AND MADE HELPLESS. IS THAT AN IMAGE OF GOD? IS THAT WHAT GOD WOULD DO?
MINDS MUCH GREATER THAN MINE HAVE WRESTLED WITH THIS STORY. SAINT AUGUSTINE REASONED THAT KINGS WOULD GIVE THEIR GUESTS WEDDING GARMENTS, SO THAT THEY WOULD BE PROPERLY CLOTHED. AND IF YOU DIDN'T WEAR ONE, YOU WOULD BE INSULTING THE KING. THAT MAKES A GOOD STORY, BUT WE HAVE NO EVIDENCE THAT KINGS DID THAT IN THE TIME OF JESUS. IN FACT, PEOPLE INVITED TO GREAT BANQUETS WOULD PUT ON THEIR BEST CLOTHING, AND IF THEY DIDN'T HAVE GOOD CLOTHING, THEY WOULD BORROW FROM A FRIEND OR A NEIGHBOR. YOU WOULD NEVER SHOW UP IN CASUAL CLOTHING FOR A GREAT FEAST, ESPECIALLY A WEDDING FEAST FOR THE KING'S SON.
THERE ARE OTHER THEORIES. THE WEDDING GARMENT WAS THE SAME AS THE BAPTISMAL ROBE. YOU COULD NOT BE AT THE BANQUET UNLESS YOU WERE BAPTIZED. BUT THAT DOESN'T RING TRUE EITHER. THE GUEST WAS ESSENTIALLY CONSCRIPTED. DID HE EVEN HAVE TIME TO GET A WEDDING GARMENT?
IT TURNS OUT THAT HE DID. IT WAS CUSTOMARY TO ISSUE TWO INVITATIONS; THE FIRST WAS THAT THERE WOULD BE A BANQUET, AND THE SECOND THAT THE BANQUET WAS ALL SET AND READY TO GO. MAYBE THERE WERE ONLY A FEW HOURS BETWEEN THE FIRST AND SECOND INVITATION; BUT THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN TIME, TIME TO BORROW A GARMENT, OR GO HOME AND GET A CLEAN OUTFIT. THE MAN WHO CAME TO THE FEAST WITHOUT A WEDDING GARMENT HAD NO EXCUSE; THAT'S WHY HE REMAINED SILENT, THAT'S WHY HE HAD NO ANSWER.
EVERY GOSPEL STORY IS ABOUT YOU AND I. WE NEED TO SEE OURSELVES IN THE STORY. WE CAN SEE THOSE WHO REFUSE THE INVITATION; THEY AREN'T HERE, THEY HAVE EXCUSES. AS JESUS MAKES CLEAR, THEY AREN'T VERY GOOD EXCUSES, BUT EXCUSES THEY ARE. I'M NOT ATTENDING THE FEAST BECAUSE I WAS OUT LATE LAST NIGHT; I AM NOT ATTENDING THE FEAST BECAUSE I HAVE AN EARLY TEE TIME THIS MORNING; I AM NOT ATTENDING THE FEAST BECAUSE I AM NOT "FED" BY THE CEREMONY OR THE SERMON. AND THERE ARE THOSE WHO DON'T JUST HAVE EXCUSES, THEY HAVE BITTERNESS AND ANGER AND HOSTILITY. I AM NOT ATTENDING THE FEAST BECAUSE THE CHURCH DOESN'T APPROVE OF ABORTION, OR SAME-SEX MARRIAGE. I AM NOT ATTENDING THE FEAST BECAUSE THERE HAVE BEEN PRIESTS WHO HAVE BEEN SEXUAL PREDATORS. I AM NOT ATTENDING THE FEAST BECAUSE THE CHURCH IS WAY BEHIND THE TIMES. AND THESE ARE THE ONES WHO BEAT THE MESSENGERS, AND EVEN KILL SOME OF THEM.
BUT THE MAN WITHOUT THE GARMENT. HE ATTENDS THE FEAST. HE IS THERE AMONG ALL THE OTHERS, WHO HAVE MADE SOME EFFORT TO BE READY, WHO HAVE PUT ON CLOTHING THAT REFLECTS THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE OCCASION, WHO RESPECT THE KING AND THE KING'S SON SUFFICIENTLY TO MAKE SOME CHANGES IN THEIR LIVES. BUT NOT THE MAN WITHOUT THE GARMENT. HE IS PASSIVE, HE IS THERE TO EAT AND DRINK, BUT HE SHOWS NO RESPECT FOR HIS HOST. AND THAT IS WHY HE IS BOUND HAND AND FOOT AND CAST INTO THE OUTER DARKNESS.
IN THE EARLY DAYS OF CHRISTIANITY, WHEN YOU ATTENDED MASS, OR WENT THROUGH A SACRAMENTAL RITUAL, YOU PUT ON A WHITE GARMENT. WHY? BECAUSE YOU WERE AWARE THAT SAINT PAUL HAD URGED CHRISTIANS TO "PUT ON CHRIST" AND ON THE MOUNTAIN AT THE TRANSFIGURATION, HE APPEARED TO HIS APOSTLES IN A GARMENT WHICH WAS PURE WHITE, BRILLIANTLY WHITE. IT SHOWED THE APOSTLES THAT JESUS WAS DIVINE, THE FAVORED ONE OF THE FATHER. AND CHRISTIANITY IS ALL ABOUT BECOMING ANOTHER CHRIST, LETTING HIS SPIRIT ANIMATE US, IMITATING HIS LIFE, SUBMITTING OUR WILLS TO THE WILL OF THE FATHER, AS MARY DID, AS JESUS DID, AS EVERY GREAT SAINT DID. AND WHEN WE DO THIS, WHEN WE ALLOW THE FATHER TO ANIMATE US, TO MOVE US THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT, TO FORM US INTO HIS SONS AND DAUGHTERS, WE BECOME OTHER CHRISTS, AND WE PUT ON THE WHITE GARMENT.
AND THAT IS THE PROBLEM WITH THE MAN WITHOUT A GARMENT. HE HAS BEEN INVITED, HE HAS BEEN GIVEN EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO JOIN IN THE FESTIVITIES. AND HE HAS REFUSED. HE IS PASSIVE, HE HAS MADE NO EFFORT TO TRANSFORM HIMSELF; AND HE HAS NO EXCUSE.
THERE ARE THOSE WHO REFUSE THE INVITATION. THERE ARE THOSE WHO ARE HOSTILE TOWARDS THE ONE DOING THE INVITING. BUT THERE ARE THOSE WHO ACCEPT THE INVITATION, BUT MAKE NO EFFORT TO CHANGE. THEY ARE GIVEN GRACE UPON GRACE; THEY ARE INVITED INTO THE HEART OF THE TRINITY. THEY ARE GIVEN A PLACE IN THE GREAT BANQUET HALL. BUT THEY MAKE NO EFFORT, THEY REFUSE TO CHANGE ANYTHING ABOUT THEMSELVES; THEY REFUSE TO REPENT, TO CHANGE THEIR MINDS, TO INVEST A LITTLE TIME AND EFFORT INTO OPENING THEMSELVES UP TO GOD'S GRACE. AND THEY SIT PASSIVELY AT THE BANQUET, LOCKED IN THEMSELVES.
WHERE ARE YOU AND I IN THIS STORY? ARE WE THOSE WHO HAVE EXCUSES, BUT REALLY STUPID ONES? ARE WE THOSE WHO HAVE DECIDED THAT THE CHURCH IS IS CORRUPT AND HOPELESSLY OUT OF SYNCH WITH THE TIMES? ARE WE STILL CATHOLIC, MORE OUT OF FEAR THAN CONVICTION, MORE OUT OF PASSIVITY THAN REAL BELIEF? HAVE WE REFUSED THE INVITATION? OR HAVE WE ACCEPTED THE INVITATION, ASSUMING THAT OUR PRESENCE WILL BE SUFFICIENT. IF WE SHOW UP, GOD WILL BE SO DELIGHTED IN US THAT HE WILL OVERLOOK THE FACT THAT WE CONTRIBUTE NOTHING, THAT OUR LIVES ARE NOT CHANGED, THAT WE HAVEN'T REALLY PUT ON CHRIST.
THE MAN WITH NO WEDDING GARMENT DOES NOT DESERVE OUR PITY. HE HAS HAD HIS CHANCE, HE HAS BEEN GIVEN HIS INVITATION; AND WHEN THE KING CONFRONTS HIM, HE HAS NO ANSWER.
LET US PRAY THAT WE WILL NOT BE WITHOUT A WEDDING GARMENT WHEN WE ARE SEATED AT THE GREAT BANQUET. LET US PRAY THAT WE WILL CHANGE OUR MINDS, THAT WE WILL BE CONVERTED, THAT WE WILL BE GIVEN THE GRACE TO BEGIN THE PROCESS OF PUTTING ON CHRIST; SO THAT WE CAN ATTEND THE BANQUET OF THE GREAT KING.