By Father Andrew Kelly
Every Sunday the Lord sets a table with Word, body and blood. The invitation is from Sunday’s Gospel (Matthew 22:1-14): “…come to the wedding banquet.”
Some refuse. Others “… made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business.…” Eventually the guests are gathered from the streets “… both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.”
On Sunday the Lord scans the assembled and notices: “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?” The community is speechless as it wonders whom the Lord is talking about.
For the “wedding robe” is the garment received by believers at baptism: “…you have become a new creation and clothed yourself in Christ. Take this white garment and bring it unstained to the judgment seat.…”
Every Sunday at the Lord’s table the Lord is looking at the condition of the “wedding robe” of all the guests. The Lord asks: “What has happened since baptism? Have you been transformed? Is your life filled with my compassionate words and deeds? Or has nothing happened? Do you even remember the garment and the commitment?”
Every Sunday the Lord declares: “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
(Father Andrew Kelly is pastor of St. Mary Parish in Mechanicsville.)
