REFLECTION FOR TODAY
August 19, 2021
By Fr. Andrew Ibegbulem, OSA
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.” Matt. 22:2-3
The parable of the royal wedding from which our gospel reference of today is taken from has a lot of messages for us. in This parable, the king is God the Father, and the wedding is the marriage between Christ and the Church. The Father invites each one of us to be a member of the Church and to enter that divine union with His Son Jesus, thus entering the life of the Holy Trinity.
In this parable, the people who responded to the wedding invitation weren’t the original invitees. The first invitees refused to come and some even murdered the servants. Among those who responded, one chooses not to dress properly for the wedding feast.
There are two levels of rejection in the parable, one is level of indifference. Becoming too busy with things that don’t really matter. The other is the rejection of faith which is a growing hostility toward the church and morality
The fact to we have been invited does entails we make every effort to dress well by making every effort to be in the state of grace. “Many are called, but few are chosen”, suggests that many who are invited to heaven’s banquet won’t make it because despite God’s generous invitation, they choose not to put on their clean robe.
Keeping our robe spotless is more than a life insurance policy. The benefit of repentance comes in this lifetime, and not in the next. When we repent, Jesus removes the chains of sin that held us bound. How free can this be? No longer enslave to sin but experiencing true happiness. peace and growth in the love of God.
This parable should not be read in such a way that we look at others and condemn them as if we were the king and had the right to do so. We do not have that right. Only God does. Instead, this parable should be read from the perspective of your own life. Hopefully you are not one of those who are hostile to the Gospel. But perhaps you and many other Christians struggle with the first form of rejection: indifference. We can easily become indifferent in many various ways and on many different levels. The opposite of being indifferent is to care and to care deeply about going to the wedding feast when invited.
Reflect, today, upon the Wedding Feast to which you are invited. You are invited to enter into the glorious celebration of becoming one with the Savior of the World. You are invited to surrender your life to Him without reserve. You are invited to holiness, moral integrity, unwavering fidelity to God, service of others, charity that knows no bounds and so much more. To enter the Wedding Feast of the Lamb is something that must take place every day and every moment of your day for the rest of your life. God is inviting you. Will you say “Yes” with every fiber of your being?
Lord, You desire that all people fully accept the invitation You have given to become one with You through spiritual marriage. You call us to the glorious Wedding Feast and eternal rejoicing. May I never be indifferent to Your invitation and always make my response with all my heart. I love You, dear Lord. Help me to love You even more. Jesus, I trust in You.