28th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year A

"The reign of God may be likened to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son."

Lectionary Readings for the 28th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year A
http://www.pcentral-online.net/catholic/lectionary/28th-sunday-a.html

The Lord always preached and taught about the Kingdom of God in the form of parables, so that people may know about the Kingdom through things that are also familiar to them. He gave this parable to the chief priests and elders of the people: He told them about a king who gave a wedding feast for his son and invited many people to come to the banquet. However, those who were invited had many excuses and did not come. Others even insulted the servants of the king and killed them. The king was angry and sent soldiers to destroy those people. Then the king told his servants once more to invite anyone who can be seen by the byroads. And the wedding hall was eventually filled with guests, both good and bad. As the king then entered the hall and then surveyed the guests, he found one without a wedding garment. He then had the guest bound and thrown out of the banquet. And then Jesus said, "The invited are many, the elect are few."

This parable seems to reflect an image of a God who is very harsh and strict and very exact in his justice. But we must remember that God is not only a loving God but a just God. His justice is tempered by His mercy. There are many sides to God's reality and even though how much we may know of Him, His total reality and Person will remain a mystery for us. In this parable, the earthly king is a glimpse of what God is: just and powerful. But even though God is just and powerful, He shows how much He wants us to share in His life: like the king who, after inviting those who were invited in the first place and they refused, he still continued on his invitation and wanted people to share in the joy he has because of his son's wedding.

That is how the Lord wants of us when He calls us to the banquet of His table and altar. The Eucharist is for all of us. He invites everyone. But like the earthly situation Jesus tells of in the parable, many are too busy or do not find value in sharing in the life of Christ. We who are called and respond must be thankful that we can share in the life of God through the Eucharist. It is in the Eucharist that we are in communion with Christ and with each other. We become a Eucharistic community worshipping God who gave Himself to us in the form of consecrated bread and wine. Let us always remember that the Eucharist is a gift that we are called to be thankful for. If not for this sacrament, we would not be strengthened and nurtured in our Christian life. Christ calls all of us, but not many respond to Him. Thus only those who do, will share in the life He promises to us: a life of peace and justice and mercy and forgiveness for all our sins.