Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time October 11, 2020 “Invite to the wedding feast whomever you find.” Matthew 22: 1-14 

 

Dear Parishioners: In today’s gospel Jesus gives us another parable, a king issues an invitation to come to the wedding feast for his son. After those initially invited refuse, he sends his servants out “into the main roads” telling them “invite to the feast whomever you find.” The invitation to be part of the kingdom of God is not reserved for a select group but is a blanket invitation to all people. Despite the generosity of the invitation, there are some things we must do as invited guests. The most important one seems to be simply to show up. But after that we must also come clothed “in a wedding garment,” as today’s gospel tells us. Multiple meanings could be determined about what this wedding garment might symbolize. One could be that if we are invited to the greatest feast of all, we can’t just wander in because the door was open; we must be ready to truly enter into the celebration. 

 

The story that we hear today is filled with such violence, it might be easy to forget we are dealing with a merciful God! God calls a people to himself and desires that they come to him. The destruction of the city of Jerusalem with its temple was interpreted at the time by Christians as God’s judgment on Judah. A violent world saw stories of violence. Though we may wish to minimize the violence, unfortunately it has been part of our human history form the beginning and continues to this day. 

 

It might be difficult to strip away the violent imagery and focus instead on the root underneath it all. Matthew’s church has the wisdom and experience of decades since the death and resurrection of Jesus. It has learned that there are some in the church who do not belong as indicated in several parables. Sadly, our modern experience reflects this too. Simply being in the church does not make one holy, God’s chosen, or a model of virtue. There are weeds within the wheat. Only God has the authority to definitively and eternally expel such a person. The sobering reminder that “many are invited but few are chosen” should cause us to pause, reflect, and reexamine our lives. 

 

Next Saturday, October 17th we welcome Bishop Witold, Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn, to St. Ephrem. Bishop Witold will bestow the Sacrament of Confirmation on thirty eight young adults of our parish. Please keep them in your prayers, so that they will use the gifts of the Holy Spirit to make a difference in the world. 

 

In the Good Shepherd, 

Rev. Robert B. Adamo