28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
Is. 25:6-10a Phil. 4: 10-14, 19-20 Mat. 22: 1-14
Theme: The Heavenly Banquet
From the readings of today, we could deduce a message of hope that gives us a glimpse of what awaits us as we partake of the heavenly banquet. This message should serve as a great means to strengthen our hope in the faithfulness of God in his relationship with us. In this light, Saint Paul in the second reading of today points out the fact that the Christian hope is ultimately rooted in the power of Jesus; and as Christians we are partakers of this hope. Similarly, in the gospel, Jesus makes it very clear that it is our responsibility to decide whether we want to be part of the wedding banquet or not. He does not force us or make the choice for us; we must do it for ourselves.
In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah invites us all to a banquet. A place of joy and happiness, where death and shame will have no place. It will be a place of gathering for God’s people, the heavenly Jerusalem. Where there will be no weeping and gnashing of teeth. However, the choices we make will determine whether we will be part of the heavenly banquet or not. It is an open invitation to everyone, except those who have made the decision not to accept the invitation and be part of the banquet, just like we see in the gospel reading for this Sunday. All those that were invited to the wedding feast at first had their own reasons why they cannot be part of the celebration, and Jesus requested that other people should be invited.
This shows us that he does not force us to be part of the wedding banquet, it is a personal choice. The way we live our daily lives will show whether we want to be part of this heavenly banquet or not. To be qualified to be part of the wedding banquet, we must be wearing the right robe for the banquet. These right robes that will qualify us for the banquet are: living a life of love, peace, joy, happiness, uprightness, selflessness, the fear of God and lots more. With the practice of all these and more, we can be rest assured that we have the right robe that will admit us into the wedding feast of the Lord.
The saying of Jesus that many are called but few are chosen, presents us with the opportunity to reflect on the kind of life we lead. This is very important, lest we will be chased out of the wedding banquet because we are not wearing the right robe. Taking into consideration the invitation presented to us in today’s liturgy, are you resolved to respond positively to it or not? Remember dear friends in Christ that it is our responsibility to make the right choices if we want to be partakers of the heavenly banquet. May God grant us the grace to live a life that will qualify us to be part of the heavenly banquet, in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit. Amen. Peace be with you!