Gospel Delights!

Sunday, October 15, 2023

Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Is 25:6-10; Phil 4:12-14,19-20; Mt 22:1-14

Come, Let Us Honor the Host!

A feast or banquet indicates an occasion of joy, celebration, and communion. For this reason, it is a favored Biblical imagery to signify God’s blessings upon His people. With Jesus’ table fellowship with tax collectors, sinners, and the marginalized, feast importantly means equality and inclusivity (The King’s indiscriminate invitation to all people in the gospel symbolizes that). 

In many cultures, while accepting the invitation would indicate their willingness to honor the host, turning it down would mean resentment and animosity toward the family that invited them. In a different sense, it could also mean discrimination because the host may not be of equal social and economic status. 

We will reflect on the three readings against this backdrop. 

Through the imagery of a feast, the first reading signifies the new level of communion and intimacy between God and His people. The removal of the ‘veil’ suggests the oneness that God will establish. There will be no barrier of any sort that could forbid such a union. By conquering death, God will wipe away His people’s tears and be the cause and source of their joy. And the people will testify to the goodness of the Lord. 

Strikingly, the gospel, like the first reading, highlights the wedding feast to which the King invites the chosen people. When they become unworthy of the invitation, the King extends the invitation to all people, regardless of any consideration. There are three such invitations: two of them to the guests of honor, and the last one to everyone on the streets and main roads. 

There are at least four points for our consideration. 

1.Those who are regarded as honorary guests by the King decline the invitation. We must note the fact that they accepted the invitation when it was given. By later declining it, they fail to honor their word. Some of the invitees turn violent by mistreating and killing the servants who represent the King himself. The King is startled by their malicious intentions and decides to get rid of them. When, as guests of honor, they were invited to honor the host and the groom, they ignored the invitation and dishonored the host. 

2. When the King visits the wedding hall, he is already someone dishonored by those he thought would honor them. The man ‘not dressed in a wedding garment’ adds to the dishonor that the King was already made to suffer. The man without his wedding robe is a source of tension and misinterpretation. Maybe a counter question could be of some help to rightly understand the situation: how come all other invitees were properly dressed for the occasion, though the invitation was extended to them also at the last minute? The only difference between the honorary guests who declined the invitation and the man without a wedding garment would be that while the former disrespected the invitation, the latter disrespected the intention of the host. Others dishonored the host by not coming. The man dishonored the host with his appearance without being properly dressed for the occasion. 

3. We can sense the profound indifference of the man who was not in his wedding garment. Declining the invitation is a different issue altogether. Instead, if we accept the invitation, the duty to honor it falls on us. In his indifference and disrespect, he completely abdicates his responsibility for proper appearance. The fact that he is so indisposed is manifested in his appearance. 

4. The man’s behaviour is an affront to the sense of equality and inclusivity of the King. The man without a wedding garment is a sign of opposition to the King’s generous invitation.

When the feast is shown as a symbol of joy and communion, St. Paul in the second reading, makes use of it to refer to his contentment. When he declares himself prepared for any eventuality, he is humble enough to acknowledge God’s grace that enables his contentment of heart. We should note that Paul is making the remark in his humility and not in a triumphalistic manner.

God, as a generous host, intends equality and inclusivity. Saying ‘yes’ to God’s invitation means honoring it with proper disposition and demeanor. In an extended sense, it would also mean to replicate it in our lives. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar