Jesus’ parable of the Wedding Feast presents a scenario where the invited refuse to attend a royal wedding. This is stranger than fiction!

No one refuses an invitation to a royal wedding, much less kill the king’s messengers. But the parable is a mirror of Israel’s refusal of God’s invitation. ‘’The wedding feast’’ is a picture of God’s desire to invite his people to the joy of his kingdom, on the condition that they obey his will. But the Israelites disobey God by doing evil and practicing idolatry. God sends prophets to denounce the people’s faithfulness and acts of injustice and then invite them to repentance, but the prophets are persecuted and some are killed. In the fullness of time, with Jesus’ coming, God’s invitation is opened also to those who are ‘’not God’s people’’.  Israel, as a nation, refuses Jesus who, as the ‘’king’s son’’, is really the groom. The pagans, on the other hand, rejoice that they, too, are invited and they accept Jesus and his message. But it is not enough to accept the invitation. One should prove oneself worthy of the banquet by being properly attired. The ‘’wedding attire’’ is one’s act of faithfulness and love. It is the goodwill and effort to live the message of Jesus.

And so, this feast already starts now here on earth. If we accept God’s invitation to share with our brothers and sisters, to work with them for justice, peace and reconciliation, to accept even the strangers, sinners and outcasts in our community, then we make ourselves the ‘’wedding garment’’ for the greatest feast of all: the heavenly banquet.