Sunday Gospel Reflection
Everything is ready, come

Introduction:

Equal Dignity for All

Have you ever helped someone get ahead in life? How has the experience improve that person's dignity?

Self-determination is one of the great American myths. We can achieve whatever we desire, as long as we work hard and keep our eyes focused on the goal. No class barriers will stop us. No social order can deny us. The small person can become  great. Giants like John D. Rockefeller and Bill Gates have shown us the way!

Obviously, class barriers and the social order at the time of Jesus held people in there place. But, to the surprise of his audience, Jesus painted the Kingdom as a feast of equals. Equal in stature. Equal in dignity.

First Reading
Isaiah 25:6-10

6  On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of fat things, a feast of wine on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wine on the lees well refined.
7 And he will destroy on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations.
8 He will swallow up death for ever, and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth; for the LORD has spoken.
9  It will be said on that day, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation."
10 For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain, and Moab shall be trodden down in his place, as straw is trodden down in a dung-pit.

Second Reading
Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20

12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound; in any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and want.
13 I can do all things in him who strengthens me.
14 Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble.
 ...
19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
20 To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Gospel Reading
Matthew 22:1-14

1  And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying,
2  "The kingdom of heaven may  be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his son,
3   and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast; but they would not come.
4   Again he sent other servants, saying, `Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have made ready my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves are killed, and everything is ready; come to the marriage feast.'
5   But they made light of it and went off, one to his farm, another to his business,
6   while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.
7   The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8   Then he said to his servants, `The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy.
9   Go therefore to the thoroughfares, and invite to the marriage feast as many as you find.'
10 And those servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 "But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment;
12 and he said to him, `Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless.
13 Then the king said to the attendants, `Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.'
14 For many are called, but few are chosen."

Meditation/Bible Study

Like last week's study, Christians have interpreted this parable in a straight forward fashion. The king was God. The king's son was Jesus. The invited guests were the Jewish leaders. God's servants were the prophets of Israel and the Christian missionaries. When the leaders rejected God's invitation to the Kingdom (i.e., faith in Jesus as the Messiah) with violence, the messengers went onto the by-ways and preach to everyone, Gentile and outcast. Through the rejection of the Jewish leaders, the Kingdom spread to a universal dimension. [22:1-10]

Entry into the Kingdom, however, began with conversion. One said 'No' to a former life of sin, and said 'Yes' to God's new life. The white baptismal garment of the Christian neophyte represented the life of conversion. Long and white, like the wedding garment portrayed in 22:11, the baptismal garment served as an outward sign to the believer's inner assent. Without conversion (represented in the white garment), anyone who tried to enter the Kingdom would be rejected by God. As Jesus stated, "Many are called (by God), but few are chosen (by saying "Yes" to his call). [22:11-14]

While this brief account accurately described the parable's interpretation in Christian tradition, it does not adequately address the parable's shock value. In the time of Jesus, society had certain social and economic barriers. In the Roman empire, five percent of the population held ninety five percent of the wealth. These percentages also reflect the general ratio between the aristocracy and the general population. Ancient people viewed wealth as static and distributed according to divine will. They held social status in the same way. The rich and privileged would always remain so. The poor would always serve the well-heeled.

Social functions like a royal wedding feast reflected the general social outlook. Only the privileged would gain invitation. And the seating arrangements at such functions indicated the importance of the guest in society. The higher in status sat closer to the host, while  the lesser sat further away. One knew his place in society based upon his seat at dinner.

As Jesus told the parable, he first shocked his audience with the king's multiple invitations and the guests' rejection. Both indicated the king's perceived weakness. The king needed to remind his nobles of the celebration. And the nobles believed they could ignore or even defy the king's command. [22:3-6] One of two outcomes were possible. Either the weak  king would fall. Or, the nobles underestimated the king's true power and would be crushed.  [22:7]

Jesus again shocked his audience with the king's next move, a invitation to the general
population. The invitation went out in the form of a royal decree which was announced in the marketplace (where the main travel routes converged). [22:8-9] Through this decree, the king broke the social barriers of his kingdom. The seats of the privileged were open to anyone. All were now equal in the eyes of the king. And all, the upright and the outcast alike, took advantage of the invitation. [22:10]

The place where Jesus preached (the Temple) gave the parable its final shock value. This feast of equals was God's Kingdom! This vision opposed the general belief that Temple and Jerusalem in general mirrored the Kingdom and its priorities. Contemporaries of Jesus believed God dwelt in the Temple, specifically in the Holy of Holies where the  Ark of the Covenant lay. The structure of God's Kingdom spread out in concentric circles from this point. Outside the Holy of Holies lay the altar and the sanctuary for the priests. Next lay the worship area for the Jewish faithful, first for men, then for women. Outside the Temple proper lay the so-called "Court of the Gentiles" for those non-Jews who held the Jewish God in esteem.

As the Holy of Holies represented the dwelling place for God in the city, so the city represented God's dwelling place for the world. Pious Jews in the Diaspora expected to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem at least once in their life. Pious non-Jews visited the city to pay homage to the God they also worshiped (see Isaiah 56: 6-7). As the
center for worship, Jerusalem was the center of the world in the Jewish mind (see Zechariah 14:16-19). It made sense that this holy geography would apply to the status of people within the geography. The priests and scribes stood first in the Kingdom, then the faithful, finally the Gentiles.

This parable destroyed any notion that social place within the Kingdom depended  upon one's standing in sacred geography. Jesus was not that radical as the Essences, a movement that held the Temple was so corrupt (since the priests collaborated with the Romans), stepping to the Temple made one impure. But, with parables like this one, he did criticize the Temple leadership. Their status and heritage did not insulate them from God's wrath.

God turned the social order upside down in his Kingdom. As the king, he called many times to his people and their leaders. And many times, he was rejected. While false religiosity of the leaders made God look weak, God actually used their facade as a means to spread the Good News to all, outcast and Gentile alike. God raised the lowest to the dignity of his child. Those who claimed honor in the Kingdom would be reduced, or even rejected. Truly, many were called, but few were chosen. [22:14]

Reflections:

· Please re-read the phrase(s)/sentence(s) that move(s)/touche(s) you.

.  Which character are you in this parable?

. "The kingdom of heaven may  be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast; but they would not come.  (Matthew 22:2-3)
   ---- What are your reasons for not participating?
   ---- What do you concern most in you life? Your job? Your financial condition? Your career? Your spiritual life?

.  Remember the last time I receive God's call. How did you respond?

.  Then he said to his servants, `The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the thoroughfares, and invite to the marriage feast as many as you find.' And those servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled with guests. (Matthew 22:8-10)
   ---- In what areas are you experiencing the invitation, or call of God?
   ----- Imagine yourself participating the wedding banquet. What do you observe around you? What is your attitude? What are other people's attitudes?

. What do you think about God's compassionate love and His perseverance to receive us? How do you  plan your life to live in serving God and others?

. Have you ever stopped to realize you were God's beloved? Have you ever reflected on the dignity of others as God's beloved? How does that fact change your outlook on the world?

To live His Word this week:

. Say 10 Hail Mary in your daily night prayer during the month of Our Lady.

. Visit someone who is sick or has some difficulties in his/her family life.

For Youngsters:

.  Stand up straight when you attend weekly or daily mass.

Prayer

Lord, may I always know the joy of living in your presence and grow in the hope of seeing you face to face in your everlasting kingdom