First Reading - Ezekiel 36:23-28
Gospel - Matthew 22:1-14
The first reading speaks to us about the restoration of Israel. However, it's interesting to note that the restoration of the people to their land, that God promises through the prophet, isn't for the sake of Israel but for displaying His glory before other nations. This reminds us about the thoughts of the people of Babylon and other nations who defeated the people of Israel and exiled them from their lands, by this, they took pride of defeating the God of Israel. To respond to this, God promises to show His glory before other nations. The other side of the restoration that God promises the people is the renwed heart for the people. The implications of 'he will remove their heart of stone and give them a new heart of flesh,' are that God will not leave any trace of their previous defilement. This refers to a complete restoration and renewed disposition of the people to God.
In the gospel, Jesus presents a parable of the wedding banquet (refers to the happiness of the messianic age or kingdom of God) to the chief priests and the elders of the people. The parable is satirical and sarcastic directed to mock the attitude of the leaders like the chief priests and the elders. The parable can be divided into two parts: the first part shows the rejection of the invitation by the invited guests to come to the wedding banquet; and the second part presents the invitation to the people from the roadside for the wedding feast; despite one is found without wedding garment.
The first part of the rejection of the invitation by the invited guests refers to the leaders who rejected the message of God brought by the prophets, John the Baptist,and Jesus himself. They ill-treated, manhandled and killed the envoys of God and God has taken revenge on them for their stubbornness (Perhaps there is an allusion to the destruction of the temple in 70 AD and ravaging of Jerusalem by Romans). Their decision on the invitation of the wedding banquet was of indifference and outright rejection.
The second part takes us to the new group of people who are gathered from the roadside to the wedding banquet. They stand for the gentiles and sinners who accepted the message of Christ and changed their lives accordingly. However, there is a mention of a guest without a wedding garment. This refers to those who accepted Christ but without any proper change in their lives. It means their lives were not according to the message of Christ or God's will. They are also excluded from the wedding banquet. The decision of this man was of half-hearted response to the wedding feast. Consequently, he is also excluded.
Dear friends, what is the wedding feast for us here on earth? It is certainly our Eucharist here on earth. What is our response and disposition to the invitation of the eucharistic banquet? Is it rash, half-hearted, indifferent or well meditated? We can be rash to make a decision to come for the eucharist without proper disposition or prior thoughts about it. We can be half-hearted to come to the eucharist without awareness, with distracted mind and unwilling heart. This kind of response cannot benefit us. We can also turn indifferent to the richess of the eucharistic banquet and ignore going for it. This will certainly deprive us of the grace that we draw from the eucharist. We can really benefit our spiritual grace from it by willingly and actively deciding to be the part of this great mystery. This will certainly enrich us. God is willing to restore us to Himself. Let's ammend our disposition while we approach the Eucharist. Let's mould our hearts into the heart of flesh disposed and willing to draw strength from God.
May God continue to help us take proper decisions in our lives.
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