“…For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matt 22:14)
(Year A: 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 15th
October, 2023)
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READINGS
(See also Luke 14:15-25)
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The story of the King and his wedding party offers a crude
and even violent image of those invited but who refused and were cut off by the
King. We would be entirely mistaken to think of this story as a
story about a vengeful God who behaves like human kings. In the course of human history, the ‘Kings’
of this world including dictators and manipulators resorted and resort to the
threefold methods of bullying: (1) violence of word or deed; (2) threats; and
(3) denial of any wrong-doing on the part of the bully (it is all the fault of
the bullied, so it is insinuated by the bully). Even if this Gospel story of a bully king
who insists, threatens, bullies and takes revenge, the passage has resonance
for us today.
The key point is that
we have been invited to something wonderful. That wonderful treasure is hidden
away from the appearances, forms and outward structures of the community of
disciples. At the heart of weekly worship (above all but not exclusively in the
Eucharist) and at the heart of daily witness is the Life that Jesus gives us.
That Life is our light and our food and our joy in being able to go forward
through the deep and dark valleys and bright and spacious uplands of life’s
journey.
We are not alone. Even at this time of huge difficulty and
uncertainty when we cannot enjoy the fullness of community and communion we can
turn to God in our hearts, in our homes and under God’s sky. Remember that the
sky is blue behind those clouds!
The point of the Gospel story is that we are, all of us,
invited to partake in something truly magnificent, life-affirming and
life-giving. The problem is that we don’t know it because we have been too busy
with our own puny plans and projects thinking that what is on offer is too
remote or unrealistic to be worth the effort. If only we knew and tasted a
little of what is on offer. 80% of life is about turning up, quipped the
comedian Woodie Allen. Turning up is not enough, however, as one of the wedding
guests found out in this story. Coming with the right attitude and receptivity
(being ‘appropriately clothed for the occasion’) is an important ingredient of
a successful enjoyment of what is on offer. ‘I find such and such a religious
rite boring and irrelevant’ is sometimes heard on the lips of young and old.
But, if we only took time out to realise that these short weekly earthly
excursions to the local wedding feast are a form of aperitif for a Great Party
later. And different Tables at the Eucharist, at home and in the workplace are
linked.
The question is not ‘why go to mass every Sunday’ or
‘why should Holy Communion be the principal service every Sunday’. Rather, it
should be ‘what a privilege to take a full part in the Eucharist. It is not only a sound catholic principle but it is a sound biblical value consistent with the patterns and
habits of the early Christian community who met frequently to break Bread and
Word, sing together and share their beliefs, hopes, stories and lives.
I think that, here in Europe, we have much to learn about
party-going worship behaviour in some other continents of the world. The party
can be so good that you don’t even want to go home too soon! Or, rather, the
party doesn’t stop at the door of the place of worship.
For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been
sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old
yeast, the yeast of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity
and truth. (1
Corinthians 5:7b-8).
And so we find ourselves in a troubled world this Sunday
morning some two millennia later. Might
we listen again to the raw force and possibilities contained in the story we
have just heard? What do we hear? How do we take this story with us in to this
new week that beckons? We find ourselves this morning at a banquet of his Word
and Body laid out by our Lord and Brother. Many of us are watching from home and cannot take part fully.
Others are physically present under careful preparation and precautions. We hope to join them eventually.
But, this celebration does not belong to anyone in
particular and we are, all of us, invited guests of the One who has given his
life for us and continues to be present among us where two or three gather in
his name. Those of us who have the great
privilege of being invited to and present at the Eucharist on the Lord’s Day –
the day of resurrection celebrated weekly every Sunday by the disciples of
Jesus since the first century – might reflect on what it is that we have been
invited to and what it is that we are called to do not just this morning but
for the week ahead.
As it says in Acts
2:42:
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
The party extends beyond Sundays.
According to some Jewish rabbinical saying, God will ask us
only one question when we meet him after death: ‘Did you enjoy my creation?’
