Readings: Ezek. 36:23-28, Ps.51, Matt. 22:1-14
Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.
DO NOT COME TO GOD’S HEAVENLY BANQUET WITHOUT A WEDDING GARMENT
A songwriter, Miriam Therese Winter composed one of the hymns in our hymn book entitled 'I can not come to the banquet, which gives us the summary of our Gospel passage today and the first and last stanzas of this hymn say:
1. A certain man had a feast on his fine estate in town,
He laid a festive table and wore a wedding gown
He sent invitations to his neighbours far and wide
But when the meal was ready, each one of them replied!
CHORUS:
I can not come!
I cannot come to the banquet, don't trouble me now,
I have married a wife, I have bought me a cow,
I have fields and commitments that cost a pretty sum,
Pray hold me excused, I cannot come!
2. Now God has written a lesson for the rest of mankind,
If we're slow in responding, He may leave us behind,
He's preparing a banquet for that great and glorious day,
When the Lord and master calls us, be certain not to say.
In this life we are so busy with so many things that, if we do not take care, we will miss out on the essence of our existence. Today, the streets are full of people struggling and hustling; the markets are full of people buying and selling, and people rise very early in the morning and come back late at night.
This shows us how much effort people put in every day to earn their daily bread. I thought, if we can sincerely put in such an amount of effort to catch up with the train of eternal life, which God is inviting us into in today’s Gospel passage.
For today, from the parable of the marriage feast, the Lord offers us again an invitation to the banquet of heaven. An invitation which is God's free act of kindness, as He wishes to dine with us. No one deserves it anyway, and He is not obliged to invite us nor are we compared to honour his invitation.
Hence in the parable, those who think that they deserve to be invited are too busy to enter the banquet hall. But the poor in spirit and the humble who know that the love God has for them is completely gratuitous accept his invitation with joy.
Dear friends, what is our response to God’s invitation to his heavenly banquet? Are we so busy with the things of this passing world? We are called today not to be too busy to come to our heavenly banquet. For God’s banquet is his Church, good and bad, saints and sinners are invited, for the Church is made up of saints and sinners. The bad are expected to become good while sinners are expected to repent and put on a new garment of holiness and love.
As Christians, today we are reminded of our wedding garment, the new suit we put on on the day of baptism. Therefore, we cannot go on wearing the old garments of sins of pride, greed, adultery, fornication, theft, drunkenness, selfishness and unforgiveness, which will throw us into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, for many are called, but few are chosen.
Thus, we should put on our wedding garment of love, holiness and open the doors of our hearts to the poor, the marginalised, and those rejected by society. For God, through the prophet Ezekiel in our first reading, promised to gather us together from all the foreign countries, and bring us home to our own land and shall pour clean water over us to cleanse us from all our defilement.
He will remove our hearts of stone and give us a new heart, and put a new spirit in us to make us keep His laws and sincerely respect his observances. Then, we shall be his people and He will be our God. Therefore, let us imitate St. Bernard, whose memorial we celebrate today, for he is a man outstanding in word and deed, who strove to bring order and concord to the Church in the societies.
LET US PRAY: Lord God, every day you invite us to your heavenly banquet. As we honour your invitation today, may we, through the intercession of St. Bernard, never be distracted by the vain glory of this passing world. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a successful day
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