A Man Once Gave A Feast

 "JESUS continued speaking to them in parables:

'This story throws light on the kingdom of heaven.  A king celebrated the wedding of his son. He sent his servants to call the invited guests to the wedding feast, but the guests refused to come. 

Again, he sent other servants ordering them to say to the invited guests:  'I have prepared a banquet, slaughtered my fattened calves and other animals, and now everything is ready; come then to the wedding feast.'  But they paid no attention and went away... While the rest seized the servants of the king, insulted them and killed them.

The king became angry.   He sent his troops to destroy those murderers and burn their city.  Then he said to his servants:  'The wedding banquet is prepared, but the invited guests were not worthy.  Go, then, to the crossroads and invite everyone you find to the wedding feast.'

The servants went out at once into the streets and gathered everyone they found, good and bad alike, so that the hall was filled with guests.

The king came in to see those who were at table, and he noticed a man not wearing the festal garment.  So, he said to him:  'Friend, how did you get in without the wedding garment?'  But the man remained silent.  So, the king said to his servants:  'Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the dark where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

For many are called, but few are chosen." - Matthew 22:1-14  

 

(The parable contains two parts.

 

In the first part, GOD invites us to a banquet where there is a place for everyone.  All through history he has been sending his prophets to preach justice, the mercy of GOD and trust in HIM.  The Jewish nation, however, did not heed GOD's call through these prophets and now will pay even less heed to JESUS.  GOD's plan will not fail.  HE will send HIS apostles to preach the Gospel in foreign nations [go to the exits of the ways] so that non-Jews, too, may enter the Church.  Some Jews, however, the selected few among so many called, will be the first members of the Church.

 

The king celebrates the wedding of his son, CHRIST, who deserves to be called "the bridegroom" of humankind, because HE has become one body with it.  All throughout history the RISEN CHRIST gathers together mortal and divided human beings. The Spirit of GOD will transform and raise them from the dead, so that they may sit at the table of the living, according to the parable.

 

The only table of CHRIST that Christians usually know is the Eucharist.  While taking part in it, we must not forget what has been said above.  Our meeting in the Mass should remind us that GOD calls us to prepare, in our daily lives, for the banquet reserved by HIM for all humankind.  Ours is the task of uniting and reconciling all people.

 

What if we do not answer?  Then, little by little, the life of the holy and universal Church will be withdrawn from our assemblies of comfortable Christians, and others will be called to take charge of the work of GOD:  invite to the wedding.

 

The second part of the parable points this out:  You, Christians, who are already inside the Church, do you wear the new garment - a life of justice, honesty and trustworthiness?

 

Let us not believe that the surprised guest who was not properly dressed for the occasion was some kind of poor person.  No, for it was customary during those times to supply all guests with the robe they should wear at the banquet.  This one could have put on the robe but did not, so he had nothing to answer.

 

Many are called...  Some are disturbed upon reading this:  does it mean that only a few persons will be saved?

 

If we associate this sentence with the first part of the parable, it means that, of those first invited, few will enter the banquet.  These guests were the Jews and very few, indeed, entered the Church of JESUS.  Interpreted in connection with the second part of the parable, it would mean that few of those entering the Church have the necessary dispositions, so the majority would be condemned at the time of judgment.  This contradicts what was related in the parable, because only one of the guests was thrown out.

 

It is better not to associate this saying too much with the parable of the banquet, because we find it also in other places in the Gospel.  Here JESUS advises us that only a few discover through the Gospel true freedom and new life.  Then, are they saved?  Yes and no - because salvation, for JESUS, does not mean to escape from the punishment of hell, but to reach perfection.)

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The Souls Of The Just Are In The Hands Of GOD

 

"The souls of the just are in the hands of GOD and no torment shall touch them.

In the eyes of the unwise they appear to be dead.  Their going is held as a disaster; it seems that they lose everything by departing from us, but they are in peace.

Though seemingly they have been punished, immortality was the soul of their hope.  After slight affliction will come great blessings, for GOD has tried them and found them worthy to be with HIM; after testing them as gold in the furnace, HE has accepted them as a holocaust.

At the time of HIS coming they will shine like sparks that run in the stubble.  They will govern nations and rule over peoples, and the LORD will be their king forever.

Those who trust in HIM will penetrate the truth, those who are faithful will live with HIM in love, for HIS grace and mercy are for HIS chosen ones." - Wisdom 3:1-9 

(The souls of the just are in the hands of GOD.  This is the great revelation in this book.  In the previous books of the Scriptures, the soul only means the breath of a person, that is to say, the life in him which disappears at death.  Now, the soul means the person who does not die when the body does.

Their going is held as a disaster.  Whether the just die in the hands of violent people, or naturally die as we all do, the end of their lives seems to contradict GOD's goodness.  It is a scandal that death can overcome the just.  [We know that the just are those who fulfill the hopes that GOD placed in them.]  It is only the body which dies.  They are alive before GOD as JESUS will also state [Luke 20:38].

But they are in peace.  They will forever enjoy what they hoped for here on earth.  That is to say, we only see one side of death: we shall never know how everyone experienced his departure, even less how he awakened in GOD's world.

At the time of judgment, we will see that the just are the only ones who have been truly alive.  The death of the friends of GOD brings peace to those who were at their side.  Through their death the martyrs bring the triumph of the cause for which they lived.)  

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Blessings And Woes

"Coming down the hill with them, JESUS stood in an open plain.  Many of HIS disciples were there and a large crowd of people who had come from all parts of Judea and Jerusalem, and from the coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon.

Then, looking at HIS disciples, JESUS said,

'Fortunate are you who are poor, for the kingdom of GOD is yours.

Fortunate are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.

Fortunate are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

Fortunate are you when people hate you, when they reject you and insult you and number you among criminals, because of the Son of Man.  Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for a great reward is kept for you in heaven.  Remember, that is how the ancestors of the people treated the prophets.

But alas for you who have wealth, for you have been comforted now.

Alas for you who are full, for you will go hungry.

Alas for you, who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.

Alas for you when people speak well of you, for that is how the ancestors of the people treated the false prophets.'" - Luke 6:17. 20-26  

(Matthew adapts them for the members of the church of his time.  Luke, on the other hand, puts the beatitudes here just as JESUS proclaimed them to the people of Galilee.  In the words of JESUS, the beatitudes were a call and a hope addressed to the forgotten of the world, beginning with the poor among HIS people, heirs of GOD's promise to the prophets.

In contrast with these beatitudes, Luke presents lamentations recalling those of Isaiah [65:13-14].  They are lamentations as used for the dead, not maledictions.  For the rich forget GOD and become impermeable to grace.  These lamentations are a sign of the love of GOD for the rich, as are the beatitudes for the poor, for HE loves them all, but in a different way.  To the first HE affirms that HE will destroy the structures of injustice, and to the others HE gives a warning: richness brings death.)

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