Memorial of Saint Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church
The passage before us from Matthew makes explicit what we Catholics know very well: when we encounter a story about a banquet, we are encountering a story about the Kingdom of God. Jesus is explicit in this parable—that in this parable he is talking about the Kingdom of God.
So, what is Jesus trying to tell us by way of this parable?
One thing we learn is that those of us who have been invited to the banquet/kingdom can be rather cavalier and careless about the honor. The folks the king invited couldn’t be bothered to show up. The king went to great expense and effort to prepare a feast for them. But I guess they just didn’t feel like putting forth the effort. It was easier just to stay home.
Even when the king made a second attempt to persuade them to attend, they still couldn’t be bothered. Well, that’s not quite right—they bothered to mistreat and kill his slaves. It would seem that going to a banquet would be a lot more fun than engaging in slaughter. In response, the supremely ticked off king burned their city.
And then the king did a remarkable thing. He sent his slaves into the city to invite anyone they could find to join the wedding banquet—whether “good or bad.” And finally the wedding hall was full of guests.
But then in the banquet hall, the king came upon a man not appropriately dressed for a wedding banquet. And sent him off in his judgment.
This is one heck of a parable. Here’s what I am taking from it. I hope you find it helpful. In the spirit of Father Satish’s “threes.”
- It’s really important to show up. We can’t always do it. Sometimes the obstacles are too great and we have to ask for God’s grace. But when we can, we need to—weddings, funerals, visiting the sick, all the daily sacramental opportunities we encounter.
- The Kingdom is not limited to the folks who think they’re ”Christians” or think they’re good. We have no shortage of Christians these days who think they have some inside lane into the Kingdom. This parable is clear. No one does. Even more, the king invites all—whether good or bad—into the Kingdom.
- While God is love and loves us all, we do have a charge. Matthew is super clear about it in chapter 25 (the last judgment) when Jesus says,
“Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” Then he will say to those at his left hand, “you that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” . . . “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
While it is crucial that we show up to the banquet and be present to the Kingdom, that is not enough. We must also love God so much—with all of our heart and soul and mind—that we also love Jesus by loving the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, those imprisoned.
We have been given a great challenge. May we rise to it and join our Lord at the banquet!
- Sue Trollinger