Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?

 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.  Again, he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready.  Come to the wedding.' "  But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.  And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.  But when the king heard about it, he was furious.  And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.  Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.  Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.'  So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good.  And the wedding hall was filled with guests.

"But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.  So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?'  And he was speechless.  Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'  For many are called, but few are chosen."

- Matthew 22:1-14

In recent readings, we are in Jerusalem and it is Holy Week:  the week of Jesus' Passion.  He has made His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, cleansed the temple, and been questioned by the leadership as to His authority.   In yesterday's reading, He continued His reply to them:  "Hear another parable:  There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower.  And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.  Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit.  And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another.  Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them.  Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'  But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.'  So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?"  They said to Him, "He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons."  Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures:  'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.  This was the LORD's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?  Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.  And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."  Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them.  But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet.


 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.  Again, he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready.  Come to the wedding.' "  But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.  And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.  But when the king heard about it, he was furious.  And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city."  My study bible says that this is another parable proclaiming the transfer of the Kingdom from Jews to Gentiles, "depicted as a joyful wedding banquet (see 25:1-13).  John the Baptist calls Christ the 'bridegroom' (John 3:29) and Paul also uses the marriage analogy (Eph. 5:22-33).  Ancient tradition applies these two parables in Matthew to the process of initiation into the Church, because the sacraments of baptism and chrismation bring us into marriage or union with Christ, a union fully realized in the age to come."  It also notes that burned up their city refers to what is to happen in A.D. 70, the destruction of Jerusalem.

Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.  Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.'  So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good.  And the wedding hall was filled with guests."  Here we get a picture of the world (and perhaps the Church) in the time in which we live, the time in which we await the Bridegroom's return.  It reminds us of the parable of the Wheat and the Weeds (or Tares), where all grows side by side until the time of the Judgment.  In the perspective of Jesus' time and ministry, those who were invited refused to come -- so the invitations went out to all the world.

"But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.  So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?'  And he was speechless.  Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'  For many are called, but few are chosen."  My study bible tells us that "the wedding garment is provided by the host.  To be at the wedding improperly dressed indicates one who is uninvited or who, having been invited, rejects the host's hospitality.  In the Church, the wedding garment is true repentance and righteousness -- the way of salvation -- gained only by the grace of God."

It's interesting to consider the wedding banquet as a picture of the true Church, because clearly Christ uses this image as the place into which we are invited -- everyone is invited.  If the custom really is for the host to provide the wedding garment, we're given a particular picture in this parable.  It's a picture of the refusal of a gift, an invitation, on a certain level.  Everyone shows up, but there is a deeper discernment involved.  Who has truly accepted the gift of the garment?  Perhaps we may consider this gift to be God's gift of grace, God's deep love that calls us toward Himself, to be more "like Him."  In that case, each of us who accept the invitation, who wish to partake of this great feast, best pay attention to what it is not simply to be invited, but to work together with that host.  To allow ourselves to be clothed in the appropriate garment is to allow grace to be at work in us, forming and shaping the picture of who we are, who we consider ourselves to be -- to become.  It's an important and necessary component for that final wedding banquet, the great feast of joy and celebration.  Let's note that it is those who take themselves to be the elect, who approach this feast, this wedding banquet, with a kind of arrogance about their own position, who are most in danger of being left out.  And that arrogance extends to a failure to accept the garment.  Jesus has taught the disciples, "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me."  Well, maybe it takes this humility of a little child to allow oneself to be dressed in the wedding garment chosen by the host.  A wedding garment is a beautiful thing, a great gift as we see it pictured in the parable.  But from our limited standpoint, it may require a great putting aside of our own "egotism" (to use a modern word) in order to receive what is clearly more beautiful.  Our perspective, when rooted in a kind of self-centeredness that cannot see what is greater, can hinder us from receiving the clothing God would have us wear in spiritual terms.  All of this implies a kind of preparation in our lives, a cooperative work with the Spirit, with grace, allowing ourselves to be molded and shaped in the image of a guest at the wedding banquet, and thereby to receive a joy that passes the understanding of our limited perspectives.  How do you taste that joy?  How are you "prepared?"  Where does God call on you to go to cast off the old garment and to take the new one God offers to you?