Invitations are not earned - they're received and honoured with gratitude and joy

Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

Isaiah 25, 6-10; Phil 4, 12-20; Mt 22,1-14.

There is no doubt that we all appreciate being invited to someone's wedding. If it is someone whom we know well, we make sure that we mark the day clearly on our calendar and look forward to joining the celebration. If it happens to be the wedding of someone we feel particular close to, a close relative or friend, we rack our brains to buy a gift that the newly wed couple will really appreciate and if needs be we also go and buy a new suit for this unique occasion.

Three ways of receiving invitations

However not all the wedding invitations that we receive are from close friends and family members. So I asked a few of people a random question: what do you do when you receive a wedding invitation?

One of them told me, "For me, a wedding invitation equals a wedding gift." Then he confided in me saying, "In fact, the first thing that comes to mind is, 'What kind of gift is expected of me? Do I have to bring with me a gift that right now I cannot afford?'"

Another person told me. "I do not usually RSVP wedding invitations. I like to be free to the very last minute. In fact I employ a very simply policy: if I have nothing else to do that evening, I will gladly go. If not, tough luck."

Yet another one said, "It depends. It is not enough for me to know the bride or the groom. I also need to know at least some of the guests. If I do not know any of the guests, or suspect that I will not like their company, I will turn down the invitation."

These are just three examples, and there might be many others. All these examples might be valid in some particular circumstances, but when it is someone whom we know well and whom we really love and respect, none of these excuses actually come to mind. We just want to be there to celebrate this special moment with this newly wed couple.

Our relationship with God

Unfortunately this is what sometimes happens with our relationship with God. We bring almost the same excuses. God is inviting us to this celebration of joy by celebrating our relationship with him in our daily life, in the celebration of mass which is the dress rehearsal of the heavenly banquet and yet we refuse. Sometimes we live our relationship with Christ only half-heartedly. And we come up with the same excuses. "OK, so Christ is inviting me to this relationship with him, but what is expected of me? What demands is God making on me that I might not be able to bear?" As a result we drop out.

Alternatively we are too alienated with our other distractions that we keep postponing our relationship with God, or simply keep it as a time filler when we have nothing better to do.

Finally, we sometimes complain about the other guests: "Yes, I know that Jesus is inviting me and I would really like to participate. But I cannot get myself to love others. Actually I do not know how come the others are invited as well!"

Overcoming our childhood excuses

Our relationship with God asks of us that we go beyond any of these childish excuses. We just need to listen to the invitation that God is making each of us, calling us each by name. We do not need to bring any expensive gifts with us, except our own hearts, sins and all. God's invitation takes priority over everything else, because to accept his invitation is not only to set aside time for God but to offer everything, all of one's time, energy and resources to God and to see everything in the light of God, even the most mundane things.

In other words, we do not need to change for us to be loved by God. Quite the contrary is true: it is when I realise how much God loves me that I start to change. It is in this sense that we can understand the seemingly unfair comment that Jesus makes at the end of the parable, that the invitee who had just been brought in from the street was sent back out and punished because he was not dressed appropriately.

The garment that Jesus is speaking of is not some expensive garment: some silk suit or fur coat that only a few can afford. It is the garment we have all received at our Baptism, the identity of Christ.

We do not have to earn our place at the banquet. We are invited. It seems so simple to come to an unearned banquet. However for many of us, this can be difficult. Therefore never let go of the garment we have received at our baptism and accept the invitation with humility and joy, as well as a heart to be ever ready to change.