TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY: YEAR A

Jesus again in reply spoke to them in parables, saying, 

· This Gospel parable has a number of similarities with last Sunday’s Gospel, the parable of the tenants: a) two groups of servants are sent.; b)  the murder of these servants; c) the murderers are punished; d)  new groups are given the very privileges the others were offered and proved not worthy.

· Again, this is more of an allegory than a parable: each detail stands for something: a) the king is God; b) the son is Jesus; c) the invited guests are the chosen people of Israel; d) the first servants are the OT prophets; e) the second and third sets of servants are the apostolic and subsequent missionaries; e) the destroyed city is Jerusalem; f) the "good and bad" consists of the diverse background of the members of the Church.

· This is a reflection of salvation history: Old Testament and New Testament times.

 "The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. 

· Is 25:6 portrays the messianic kingdom to come as a wedding banquet. Thus, what Jesus is speaking about is not just an ordinary banquet. This is “the” banquet for all eternity. No one has a right to be invited. At the same token, no one should refuse to accept, given the seriousness of the invitation.

He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come. A second time he sent other servants, saying, 'Tell those invited: "Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast."' Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, 'The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.' The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to meet the guests he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment.

· For the new invitees (converts), the wedding garment is the baptismal relationship between God and them: the life of grace. If a person is not in relationship with God by one’s own choice, that person will not be part of the eternal celebration.

· We are the ones who have been sought out by God and invited. What is the state of our “baptismal garment” at this time? Am I truly responding to God’s invitation to me to share his life for eternity?

 He said to him, 'My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?' But he was reduced to silence. Then the king said to his attendants, 'Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.' Many are invited, but few are chosen." 

· What will you do differently this week as a result of your reflections?