Catholic but not always Christ-like
Why would a king, the father of the groom, have thrown out of the banquet an improperly attired guest? Today’s Gospel is one of the more perplexing parables of Jesus.
The parable has been commonly interpreted as follows: the king is God the Father who initially invites his chosen people to the wedding feast of his son, Jesus. They who reject the invitation because of various reasons refer to those who due to indifference to God do not heed his word. The second group of invitees who stone and kill the messengers symbolize those who persecuted the prophets of Israel. The last set, those gathered from the roads and byways, represent marginalized Jews and gentiles (nonJews) who eventually accept the Gospel of Jesus.
The parable has been narrowly interpreted to refer to Israel’s rejection of Jesus as the longed-for messiah and his acceptance by gentiles, including us Filipino Catholics. However the different classes of people can also refer to various categories of Filipino Catholics. Those who reject the king’s invitation due to their disinterest or other preoccupations can refer to those who are baptized Catholics by social convention – those born into Catholic families – but do not practice the Faith.
Those who stone and kill the messengers of the king might refer to Catholics who wound the Lord through their words and actions that blatantly contradict the Gospel of Jesus – corrupt politicians who divert public funds to their personal accounts, judges who acquit criminals for a fee, some police who instead of protecting civilians kill them on the pretext that they were drug pushers na nanlaban, drug peddlers who go to mass yet destroy the lives of individuals and their families, social media practitioners who spread fake news, destroy reputations and disregard the truth. Yet they may all claim to be Catholics. They may even generously contribute to the coffers of the Church.
The last set of invitees can refer to those who have been baptized Catholics as infants but have only begun to take their faith seriously later in life – I am thinking of my many friends who were nominal Christians most of their lives but are now active parishioners or committed members of various Catholic renewal communities.
But what about the improperly clad guest who is thrown out of the banquet? If God is the king, how can God be so cruel or petty to be riled up by the attire of people – like some priests who interrupt the mass to scold women wearing sleeveless blouses?
Culturally, wedding guests are expected to dress properly for the important occasion. In Jesus’ time, in some instances, the father of the groom provided guests with a specially made robe to be worn over their garments as they entered the banquet hall. Refusal to wear such a robe was a grave insult to the host.
Metaphorically, the robe refers to moral uprightness. Isaiah declares that the Lord “arrayed me in a robe of righteousness” (Is. 61:10). The inappropriately clad guest refers to the morally corrupt, whether Christian or not. They are unworthy to be in the presence of the Lord. Theologically, it is not the Lord who casts us away from his sight, but our sinfulness which alienates us from God.
Before we point to others, perhaps we should note that each of us may represent the various classes of people invited to the banquet. At certain phases in our lives we may be indifferent to God. Other times, we deliberately reject the Gospel of Jesus through our sinful patterns of behavior. Still other times, we may zealously strive to live out the values and convictions of Jesus.
Or we may think of ourselves as fragmented beings, each piece of us representing a group of people in the parable. Some aspects of our lives may manifest total commitment to Jesus and his teachings, while other aspects may reject Jesus’ way of life or at the very least exhibit indifference to the Christian Faith. We all have lights and shadows. We are both virtuous and unrighteous at the same time.
To end, the king in the parable is the Lord inviting us to fellowship and intimacy with him. How tragic that we devote our time and energy pursuing finite delights and matters of inconsequence while rejecting that of infinite value – communion with God. Lord, never tire inviting me to fellowship with you, to a deeper and lasting relationship with you. Even when I am deaf to your word or indifferent to you, never tire calling me to you.