Sunday Reflections
28th Sunday of year A
The mountain top is my destination
+ A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew 22:1-14
Jesus began to speak to the chief priests and elders of the people in parables: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a feast for his son’s wedding. He sent his servants to call those who had been invited, but they would not come. Next he sent some more servants. “Tell those who have been invited” he said “that I have my banquet all prepared, my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, everything is ready. Come to the wedding.” But they were not interested: one went off to his farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his servants, maltreated them and killed them. The king was furious. He despatched his troops, destroyed those murderers and burnt their town. Then he said to his servants, “The wedding is ready; but as those who were invited proved to be unworthy, go to the crossroads in the town and invite everyone you can find to the wedding.” So these servants went out on to the roads and collected together everyone they could find, bad and good alike; and the wedding hall was filled with guests. When the king came in to look at the guests he noticed one man who was not wearing a wedding garment, and said to him, “How did you get in here, my friend, without a wedding garment?” And the man was silent. Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot and throw him out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.” For many are called, but few are chosen.’
1. The idea of God preparing a great feast for all is clear in our first reading and the gospel. In the first reading, (Is 25:6-10) the Prophet Isaiah announced a great banquet which will take place on a mountain. The banquet would be for all people. Through it, God will wipe away every tear. He will restore hope and even destroy death. My question is: if the feast is for all people, why would it be held on a mountain? How can the weak find themselves there? My conclusion is that the feast is for everyone but not everyone will be able to participate. Only those willing and able to go up the mountain can take part in the great feast.
2. The Gospel confirms my assumption through the parable of the wedding feast. A king organised a wedding feast for his son. Those officially invited for the feast were not interested. Some went for their farms, others went off for their businesses and some others showed contempt for the king by killing his servants. But the king refused to be frustrated by these unbecoming attitudes. He ordered his servants to bring in everyone that they could find on the roadway to come for the feast. When they king came in to see the guests, he found a man who was not wearing a wedding garment. He ordered that the man be severely punished.
3. In the two readings, we see God’s foremost intention to save everyone. We equally see that even for God, it is almost impossible to save someone who is not willing to be saved. If the feast would be on the mountain, those who refuse to come will be out of the feast. God continues to invite humanity to accept salvation but many people continue to give excuses. For some, it is business, for others it is power, for some others, it is the pleasures of life.
4. The readings affirm the determination of God not to allow the unwilling persons to frustrate his designs. This is a call to ignore those who choose to be godless and move on with obeying the Word of God. No matter the number of people who choose to live as sinners, God will still welcome the righteous into his kingdom. When iniquity abounds, the faith of many normally grows cold. People begin to doubt God’s capacity to punish evil and reward good. In a country like ours, where only the weak and the poor are punished, crime becomes attractive even to a godly person. Today’s readings encourage the believers to know that only those who persevere to the mountain would participate in the banquet.
5. Today’s readings are also meant to encourage us to make the sacrifices that our faith imposes on us. The punishment meted out to the man who entered the wedding hall without the wedding garment is a prove that an unrepentant Christian is not pleasing to God. It is not enough to desire heaven. It is not enough to appear to be a good christian. One must truly strive to be one. St. Paul in today’s second reading (Phil 4:12-14, 19-20), assures us of God’s support for those who sincerely desire to please him in spite of their limitations. He affirms that through Christ, we can do all things, relying not on our own strength but on God’s. We should therefore remain steadfast and focus on our journey towards the everlasting mountain. The mountain is the only destination. Our places are already prepared. All we need to do is to persevere till the end.
