Mt 22: 1-14
Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come.
Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’ But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them.
The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’
Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests. “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless.
Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
What Invitations Come Our Way?
Why do people refuse the king’s invitation? Today one might ask “Why aren’t we joining institutions, associations, congregations?”
Perhaps, in an indirect way, we’re trying to protect ourselves. “Ironic detachment” is a modern label for it. Non-participation presents very few risks.
And we’ve come to celebrate critics – people who watch from a distance and judge. We have a whole ecosystem of watchers, from podcasters to theologians. We envy their incisive commentary and articulation of “truth”. But here we can get confused and believe that the truth that will set us free is found through watching, not living.
From Teddy Roosevelt’s “Man in the Arena” essay to St. Ignatius’s admonition that “Love is shown better in deeds than in words” we are reminded that great souls do not stand removed but give themselves over to the grand foolishness of life.
A banquet is prepared. What invitations have been presented to me lately?
—Michael Coffey is the Executive Director of Casa Romero Renewal Center, a Jesuit, urban, bilingual spirituality center in the central city of Milwaukee.
Prayer
Loving God,
Grant me the Spirit to enter the messiness of relationships
So that I might reach the end of the day, not with certainty or accomplishment
But with the smell of sheep and an understanding that I have embraced this life in the spirit of Jesus.
Amen
—Michael Coffey