-
October 9, 2020Once a month, I meet with Frs. John Lyons, Brian LaBurt, and Michael Kavanaugh for a Jesus Caritas Fraternity Day here on Tybee. We spend a few hours enjoying prayer and fellowship with each other. Part of our prayer time is spent reflecting on the Scripture readings for the coming Sunday. As we meet this past Monday, we wrestled a bit with today’s Gospel.
In the Gospel, Jesus again directs a stinging parable to religious leaders: a king has prepared a huge banquet celebrating his son. Servants, (the prophets within the history of God’s relationship with Israel) are sent by the king to give invitations.
These servants are met with some disinterest by those who continue their personal lives. Others mistreat and kill the king’s servants. Prophets in Israel did not have an easy time of it.
We not told why folks would reject the King’s gracious invitation. It helps to understand the circumstances of the people for whom Matthew was writing this Gospel. They were Jewish Christians. They still think of themselves as Jewish and they aren’t too sure why Gentiles are being welcomed to the banquet. So, some refused to mix with those new people who were also being invited to the party.
The issue of the “Wedding garment” is a little harder to get a sense of. But in high school I remember attending a dance at a Catholic girl’s school and was not allowed in because I wasn’t wearing a suit coat. I had a white shirt, tie and what I thought was a very nice sweater on, but that wasn’t enough. I shook the dust off of my shoes and off of my shame and never darkened their doors again. (I have a feeling they never missed me either.)
What is the “garment” in Matthew’s writing? Experts in scripture write that it is Baptism, the proper incorporation into the “hall” or community. Others write that the garment is how the invitation has changed the person being called. And still others think that some just weren’t happy with the way things were being run, so they arrogantly ignored the rules and didn’t put on the ‘wedding garment”. They came but were doing their own thing.
Perhaps the invitee just sat there eating and drinking, but not relating selflessly with the others. Perhaps he was even taking food and drink from others. He might not have been acting as someone invited, but as someone entitled. Perhaps he was not even wearing a white shirt and tie and nice sweater.
Jesus was telling the elders and priests that they were getting tossed out, not because they were unbaptized, but because they had refused to let him into their dance!What might God be saying to you through this parable. Here are some questions you can wrestle with: Why do people refuse to come to the Eucharistic Banquet that God prepares for us every Sunday? Whom do the newly invited guests found in the street represent? Whom does the person without the wedding garment represent? Are there "urgent matters" in my life that prevent me from accepting God’s invitation? What is the wedding garment God wants me to wear for me to take part at the wedding banquet of the Realm of God?
Two things really got me excited this week:- Lights in the Churchyard. I am grateful to Mike Beytagh for getting the churchyard lit. We are ready for the end of daylight savings time.
- The Lighthouse Roundtable. The Francis Fraternity (the parish evangelization and formation team) started a new outreach at the Farmers Market. Last week we had a faith sharing circle focused on Living in Joy. We only drew in folks who are already members of our faith community, but we are going to give it a couple more tries. This week the focus will be on Caring for Our Common Home.
