Whenever we are celebrating a milestone in life – a wedding, an ordination, a religious profession, we come up with a list of guests we want to invite. Many couples, managing the limitations of space (and budget), and the dynamics of two families, struggle to decide who to invite. Finally, the day arrives when the list is complete, the invitations printed, and out they go. They wait in anticipation. How quickly will they respond? Who will come?
The king in today’s gospel is going through a similar process but the stakes are much higher. This is a wedding feast for his son – his heir and their future king. He sends his servants out to give a personal invitation to this grand occasion – not only for his family but for the kingdom. No response. He invites them “a second time,” stressing that everything has been prepared meaning, if they do not come, all will be wasted. Some ignored the invitation, preferring their farm or business. Others got annoyed – even to the point of mistreating the king’s servants and even killing them.
We can appreciate the hurt and the rage of the king. He burns down their city. The invited guests are no longer a part of his kingdom. But his kingdom must go on, the wedding must take place. So, the king sends his servants to the streets to invite “the good and bad alike.” Finally, the hall is full, and the wedding can begin. As the king meets his guests – he did not know who would come – he sees a man without a wedding garment. This man came to a meal, not the wedding of the future king. He was thrown out “into the darkness.”
Most commentaries focus on the dynamic of invitation, acceptance, inclusion, and belonging. Those called to mission see themselves as the servants sent to invite people to the wedding feast. Missioners go to the invited guests, twice, risking disdain and even death. They go “into the streets” inviting the “bad and good alike.” All are invited, all accepted, all included, but only those prepared to enter fulling into the wedding feast of the king belong.
Notes on the Sunday Readings
First Reading
Isaiah prophesizes. Salvation is a feast of rich juicy food and pure choice wine. There is no death. The Lord himself wipes away our tears. Our sin, our guilt, is gone. God saved us!
Psalm
Perhaps the most known of all psalms, Psalm 23 sings God’s praises and assures us that we will want for nothing if the Lord is our Shepherd, and we dwell in his house.
Second Reading
St. Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, describes the freedom born of faith. Scarcity does not frighten us. Abundance does not seduce. Jesus, and him alone, is who we need.
Gospel
St. Matthew offers another parable on the “kingdom of heaven” where a king is hosting a wedding feast for his son. He has a list of guests to fill his banquet and sends his servants out to invite them. They refuse. He invites them a second time. They ignore the servants, insult them, and even kill them. The king is angry, sends his troops, and burns their city. The feast is ready. So, the king sends his servants into the streets to invite the good and bad alike. The hall is filled with guests and the king comes to meet them. One came without a “wedding garment” and had no explanation. He was cast into the darkness because “many are invited, but few are chosen.”
Notes and Commentary by Don McCrabb, D. Min
USCMA Executive Director