Posted on October 13, 2023 View all Gospel Reflection
The marriage feast in the parable is the Supper of the Lamb or heaven as mentioned in Revelation 19.
The Lamb’s Supper is also the Mass as Heaven on Earth, as St. Pope John Paul II taught, “What we celebrate on Earth is a mysterious participation in the heavenly liturgy.”
The king represents God and the king’s son represents Jesus.
The king’s servants inviting guests are the prophets, the wedding hall is the church, and the first round of guests invited were of higher social standing and represent the Scribes and Pharisees and leaders of Israel.
The second group invited are the Gentiles invited to be part of the church.
The troops who destroyed those murderers, and burned their city is a prophetic reference to the events of 70 AD when the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem, as many scholars assert.
The man who was improperly dressed represents dying and appearing unprepared for immediate judgment without prior repentance from sin.
The binding of his hands and feet, and casting him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth represents eternal damnation in hell.
The Now of Salvation is expressed in the parable. The whole future of each person depends on his taking seriously this ‘now.’
One should be ready for God’s sudden call, that is, one should be always ready for one’s death and the divine judgment that follows it. Human beings position themselves for their eternal destinies by their free choice.
A non-decision is a negative refusal.1
The purpose of the parable is to give each listener an opportunity to project themselves into the story so we accept the offer of salvation by grace, through faith and baptism and staying in the state of grace.
Around the banquet table of God there will only be sinners for whom Christ died. Everyone is invited. Christ died for all, but the parable also teaches us that a person can reject the offer of salvation. Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, putting their everyday concerns before prayer. The Mass and sacraments to them are totally valueless.
A Catholic evangelist summed up some reasons for becoming inactive: Spiritual, not religious; sees the self on a private, not communal, quest for personal meaning; came into conflict with Catholic teaching and one’s lifestyle, mislead by people who attack the Church; married outside the Church; hurt by those in the Church; never returned to Church after the pandemic because got so busy.
The evangelist advised, ask inactive Catholics what their reason is. Just listen. After they answer, give your own reasons why you practice your Catholic faith. The Church grows by attraction. The Latin American bishops stated, “We cannot wait passively and calmly in our church buildings, we need to move from a pastoral ministry of mere conservation to a decidedly missionary pastoral ministry.”2
There is an inner wedding where Jesus is Lord and the banquet is heaven. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, “this perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity — this communion of life and love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels and all the blessed — is called ‘heaven’. Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfilment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness” (n. 1024).
At a baptism, the priest or deacon says, “N. you have become a new creation, and have clothed yourself in Christ. See in this white garment the outward sign of your Christian dignity. With your family and friends to help you by word and example, bring that dignity unstained into the everlasting life of heaven.”
1. J. Lyle Story, All is Now Read, American Theological Inquiry Date: January 1, 2009
2. EVANGELII GAUDIUM
