October_9

Homily for October 9, 2005
Liturgical Year A-Cycle I
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
by Fr. Joshua Nyoni
Topic: Saying "Yes" to the Feast
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Gospel
Mt 22:1-14
Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and elders of the people in parables, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come. A second time he sent other servants, saying, "Tell those invited: Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast. Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, 'The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find." The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad an good alike, and the hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to meet the guests, he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment. The king said to him, 'My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?' But he was reduced to silence. Then the king said to his attendants, 'Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth."Many are invited, but few are chosen."

Suppose that your son is returning home after being out of the country for five years. He is scheduled to arrive home sometime next week, but he’s not sure whether it will be on Thursday or on Friday. As an excited parent, what do you do? You call two of his closest friends and invite them to a welcome-home dinner. You explain the situation and ask them to hold both dates open. They agree enthusiastically. When news comes that your son will arrive on Friday, you call his friends back and say, “The dinner will be Friday night”. They shock you by saying, “Sorry! We have made other plans for that night.”

That’s exactly the kind of situation that Jesus had in mind when he narrated today’s parable. God had extended his invitation. But what happened? One man decided to work on his farm. Another decided to attend to some business. These men didn’t go off to get drunk. They simply decided to do something else.

I think here is where the lesson is for us. We, too, have accepted God’s invitation. We accepted baptism and confirmation. We said "Yes" to God’s invitation to be his guest at the eternal banquet. But saying "Yes" to his invitation is not a one-time-commitment. It’s an on-going process. Saying "Yes" to God’s invitation requires a constant re-commitment and updating. It’s so easy to get distracted by daily life and to forget about eternal life. It’s so easy to fill ourselves with the junk food of this life and forget about the banquet of eternal life.

Accepting God’s invitation is not a matter of saying "Yes" once and then forgetting all about it. It’s like the “I do” of marriage. The “I do” is not the end of a process, but the beginning of one.

I am reminded of a marriage I conducted in Zim , among the Tonga people. I asked a question to the man, "John, do you love Mary?" John said "Oh! Father I love Mary very, very much" – the interesting thing was the way he said it in Tonga it would be “Ndilamuyanda loko loko” meaning that its indescribable the way I love her.

Saying "Yes" to God is like graduating from college. Graduation is not the end of one’s learning, but the launching pad for further learning. Saint Paul is one such example who said "Yes" to God. This reminds me of what one author, probably its Frederick Nitche, who said: “If you have a reason to live, you can live anyhow”. For Saint Paul who had Christ as his reason, he could live anyhow. He writes to the Phillipians: “ I know how to be poor and I know how to be rich, too. I have been through my initiation and now I am ready for anything, anywhere; full stomach or empty stomach, poor or plenty” [4.12 - 14.19-20]. Our commitment to God must grow deeper and deeper. If it doesn’t, it can die.

Something rather unfortunate happened to the man who was caught without a garment: “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?” When we are invited to a wedding? – or to give a Scientific speech? What do we do? We don’t put on dirty clothes! We get our best attire to be presentable. But this man was without that required garment. The question is: what is this wedding garment? What did Jesus intend the wedding garment to stand for?

We find the answer to that question spelt out in detail in another parable. The parable of the Last Judgment, which follows closely to today’s parable. I am sure we are all familiar with it. It describes the climax and destiny of all human history. All the people whoever lived stand in two groups before the king of heaven and earth. One group stands on his Right: the other on his Left. To those on his Right, the king says: “ Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…I was hungry …you gave me food. Thirsty…you gave drink, a stranger…you welcomed me, naked… you clothed me, ill…you cared for me. In prison and you visited me.” [Mt 25:34-36] And to those on his left, the king says just the opposite: “Depart from me. For I was hungry… you gave me no food. Thirsty…you gave me no drink. Naked…you did not cloth me…..”

The wedding garment that Jesus refers to in today’s parable stands for our love - our loving concern for others, especially the needy in our midst. The wedding garment stands for our service to our brothers and sisters. We are all invited to the wedding feast of heaven, but we must come dressed in a wedding garment of service to others, we must come dressed in the wedding garment of love.

This reminds me of what St. John of the Cross once said. He said that at the end of our lives, when evening draws near, on judgment day, we shall all be judged on Love. We shall not be judged on whether we knew physics, chemistry, theology or we can name so many others, although, all of these are important. We shall be judged “on how much we have loved our neighbour.” Shall we be found without that wedding garment? May I encourage you to specialize in that Phd of Love.

Bow your heads and pray with me.