2341AFC101323 – Come and get it!
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Isaiah 25:6 –
6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,
of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.
Psalm 23:5 –
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Philippians 4:12 – 12 I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need.
Matthew 22:10-14 – 10 “Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, 12 and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! I pray that the following passage may be the way your heart opens for today’s message: Ephesians 1:17-18 – 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, 18 so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened (↔ Music Link) click it now, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints
Before we begin, let’s all take a quick mental pause and ask for an end to the wars in Ukraine and Israel. As we read in Matthew 24:6-8 – 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famine [and pestilences] and earthquakes in various places: 8 all this is but the beginning of the birth pangs. Therefore, as you well know Belovéd, we must prepare ourselves for what is yet to come. “The Times, They Are A-Changin’.” The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news. (See Mark 1:15) We are going to find our faith in God tested by persecutions (See Mark 10:28-30), by fear and doubt, and we will surely prevail if we do what he tells us. Here are a few examples:
- Ecclesiastes 10:2 – 2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of a fool to the left.
- Isaiah 30:21 – 21 And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
- Jeremiah 6:16 – 16 Thus says the Lord: Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.
But they said, “We will not walk in it.” - Matthew 17:5 – 5 While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!”
In the Book of Proverbs, we read about the feast prepared by Wisdom: She has slaughtered her animals, she has mixed her wine, she has also set her table. (See Proverbs 9:2) This is a poetic description of a sumptuous feast. The meal includes huge quantities of food. Here we recall the great Marriage Feast of the King in Matthew 22. The feast is immense and the King has invited many, but they give him the brush-off with all sorts of excuses about being unable to attend. The wine has been mixed with spices to make the meal even more extravagant, but the invitees don’t care. Eventually the King invited every stranger his servants could find. He supplied each of them with a Wedding Garment – a long-standing custom in the region – which demonstrated traditional generous hospitality, but one man refused (or neglected) to wear it and was thrown out. God in his Wisdom invites all and provides for all the garment of repentance (See 1743AFC102717). Wisdom’s feast is also for all who will come.
Just as the Kings servants called everyone from everywhere to the King’s Wedding Feast, She has sent out her servant-girls, she calls from the highest places in the town, 4 “You that are simple, turn in here!” The gates are open, the doors as well, and the invitation is everywhere. She especially calls on those most in need of her feast and her dwelling: To those without sense she says, 5 “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. 6 Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight.” Clearly it would be wiser to accept her invitation than to continue to live in ignorance. We are called to be wise, and to be wise is to be obedient to God. We must be obedient to Christ’s Law of Love: John 13:34-35 – 34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Of all the things Jesus said, I rank this highest. This is the garment we are to wear – the Love of Christ – when we accept the call to repentance.
Jesus frequently pointed out that answering that command to love one another required a 
radical change in one’s life (we’ve discussed metanoia previously). If a Disciple was not able to sustain that level of commitment, they “fell away” from discipleship. They were left out. This is the basic message of everything in the Bible. We are to love God and love our neighbor. In and through that love, we find ways to obey God, to draw ever closer to him, and to find the strength to keep our commitment to his love. As stated here repeatedly, everyone is called, everyone is invited, the Wedding Feast is open to anyone who will come in and honor the Bridegroom. Resistance is foolish. We must assimilate. If someone wishes to be welcomed into the Body of Christ – that is, The Church – s/he must be willing to be fully incorporated into the Church, fully loyal to her mission, and fully obedient to ALL her teachings, rules, and sacraments. I strongly urge you to become thoroughly aware of the questions posed for the Synod on Synodality. They can be found here and find Pope Francis’ answers can be found here. This will, of course, require a good deal of extra effort on our part, but we must be prepared to take up our defense of the authority of Tradition.
In the Wedding Parables, those who could not do that were “bound hand and foot and cast out into the darkness where there was weeping and grinding of teeth” (paraphrasing there). Yes, we can be thrown out of the party, even if we think we belong there! Check out this passage:
Matthew 7:21-23 – 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ 23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’” Just who are these who are the “many,” the ones who expect Jesus to wave them into Heaven along with all the righteous? They are the “Sunday-goin’-t’meetin‘ (↔ Music Link)” Christians. They are the folks who associate with the Church because they think hanging out with believers is all they need, but are only superficially tied to the church. Many passages in the Epistles and catholic letters deal with members of the early church who are abusing the fellowship (koinónia) of the Christian community. They refused their wedding garment.
The Wedding Garment was a tradition wherein the patron of the wedding provided a garment for all the guests. It was a visible test of loyalty and love for the patron. The man in our Gospel reading refused to wear the garment provided. His defiance was clear to all around him. He arrogantly considered himself sufficiently “royal not loyal,” and dared to walk into the banquet hall without the proper vestments. If we look around the world today, we see many such guests who are invited to the Wedding Feast, but will no put on the Wedding Garment – the Love of Christ. The wedding garment was an outward sign of an inner reality. Those guests who chose to wear it were inwardly committed to the King. Their heartfelt attendance and proper decorum was an endorsement of the King’s authority and goodwill. It was the internal disposition of respect that engendered the external expression of that respect. Likewise, it is the internal disposition to love and obey God that engenders the outward expression of that love and obedience. It is the decision to give God primacy in all things that empowers and inspires us to come to the Table of Plenty and to be welcomed there. I refer you again to the article in ATXCATHOLIC for a great teaching on this.
In Scripture, we read of many Old Testament customs which still exist today in some form, but we often have little understanding of the origin or importance of those signs or types 
in the Old Testament. We see one of them in our Key Verse from Psalms. You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. In the Psalmist’s day, guests were anointed with fragrant oil to refresh them after their journey. It was a sign of hospitality, one of the foundational principles in the heritage of Israel. The overflowing cup reinforces this hospitality as being expressed in great generosity. This sort of extravagant generosity was an expression of humility, not pride, because it was committed to honor the guest, not the host. Now we begin to see the true power of these words from Psalms. God has prepared a feast for us in the presence of our enemies and has blessed us with an extravagant banquet of his Hospitality.
Like The Apostle Paul, we place our faith fully in God and “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” (See Romans 8:28) In our own lives we know that wherever evil seems to prevail, God’s Love ultimately conquers. We may still have to fight the battle, but “31 What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?” (Romans 8:31) God is the Patron who sets the Wedding Feast. Who is the Bride? The Church is the Bride. Who is the Groom? The Christ is the Groom, crowned with many crowns (↔ Music Link). This also refers back to Old Testament treasures concerning the Wedding Feast. Usually the entire village gathered for a wedding. At the beginning of the wedding celebration, in the evening, the bridegroom, accompanied by his friends, went to fetch his betrothed from her father’s house. He would wear particularly splendid clothing and sometimes even a crown. Jesus is “crowned with many crowns” because he is the King of kings and the Lord of lords who will reign forever and ever.
At the wedding feast in our Gospel Key Verse, none of the guests were “worthy.” (“Lord, I am not worthy (↔ Music Link) that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word 
and my soul shall be healed.)The King invited all the uppity-ups and they all turned him down because they thought they were too worthy in their own selves to be at the wedding. Therefore, the King invited all the riff-raff, the ragamuffins, and the marginalized. As they entered, they were treated to the King’s extravagant hospitality. So it is with us Belovéd. We are invited to the King’s extravagant banquet a Table of Plenty (↔ Music Link). I have wondered at times what’s on that banquet table. Jesus ate food after his Resurrection, so perhaps we will as well but there is no “menu” given in Scripture. We will feast in the presence of the Risen Christ and share in the joyous worship and adoration of our Eternal Triune God. We can only attend that feast if we answer the call (↔ Learning Link). What will be our wedding garment? The Love of Christ. (↔ Music Link) At our Baptism, we are clothed in white or receive a white covering. Consider this from ATXCATHOLIC: (↔ WONDERFUL Learning Link!) We receive our wedding garment when we are “baptized into Christ [and] clothed with Christ,” (Galatians 3:27) or as the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains, “Having become a child of God clothed with the wedding garment.” (CCC 1244) (↔ Click Link)
“Wars and rumors of wars” have captured our attention the past few months. It will get worse, way worse, as time goes by. We know where we are going, and we know Who’s 
going with us. We know Who we Love, and we know Who we will marry as the Church Triumphant. As of now we are the church Militant, and for some (perhaps most?) of us we will become the Church Suffering. But, as the Time and Times progress, we will be clothed in the white robes of the Wedding Garment and enter in to a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. It’s all part of God’s Absolutely Perfect Plan. SO ARE WE, BELOVÉD! Take a look at this image and chose which feast we can plan on attending together. Again I ask you to pray for Ukraine and Israel as well as the enemies that assail them and the many, many earthlings who will die because of this. Jesus told us to pray for our enemies. We are not in either of those countries, we are not at war with either of their persecutors; however, we are at war with the entities behind these vicious, evil, wars – Satan and his minions both human and demonic. They will not be invited. Will we be chosen to enter into the feast? Jesus said, “Many are called but few are chosen. How shall we be among the chosen? By accepting God’s extravagant hospitality and choosing to wear the Wedding Garment God himself has provided: The Love of Christ internally and externally.
As with the King in the Parable of the Wedding Feast, we have received multiple invitations: John 13:34, John 15:17, 1 John 3:11, 1 John 3:23. Let us therefore in all humility don the Wedding Garment our King has provided because – as The Apostle Paul has told us in Corinthians 13:4-8a – 4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends. That’s a tall order, but it is already on the menu for the Final Wedding Feast, so COME AND GET IT! YOLO-F Blesséd be God forever in his Angles and his Saints – including us! Consider this from 1935AFC083019 – … And me, your worthless servant.
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
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Bonus (↔ Music Link)!
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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