28th Sunday of Year A

Isaiah 25:6-10
Philippians 4:12-14,19-20
Matthew 22:1-14

Is my life fulfilled – really fulfilled?

All of us quest for something in life. My brothers and sisters, this week, we ask ourselves: What are the quests of my life? For some of us, it is something material – wealth, honour, power and pleasure. For some of us, it is something more internal – peace, contentment and freedom from sorrow. Often, what we quest for depends on what we lack in our life. So we ask ourselves: What am I lacking in life right now? Am I lacking in material comfort? Am I lacking in respect from my peers and family? Or am I lacking in inner peace?

In the First Reading this week, the prophet paints an imagery of bliss, addressing both the material and inner yearnings of our hearts. Addressing our material need, he said, “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.” (verse 6) Then, addressing our inner yearnings, he said, “the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.” (verse 9)

We need an honest reflection of our inner yearnings to give us a better understanding of our life, our priorities and even our very self. We should then follow up with the next reflective question: How is my quest going? Am I quenching these yearnings; or are they getting ever further out of reach? Jesus promised us, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (Jn 10:10) But why are so many of us still so unfulfilled in life? To answer this question, we turn to the Gospel parable this week.

Firstly, many of us remained unfulfilled because we do not give faith a chance. Some of us decide that Christianity is not for us. Some of us think that Christian message is for people of a certain culture, heritage, family upbringing, or people who are good and wholesome – a “chosen people”, so to speak. In the Parable of Wedding Feast, a king generously laid out a lavish wedding banquet for his son. But alas, his guests all had other priorities instead of attending the banquet: “they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business” (verse 5). Showing his sincerity, the king sent out his servants to personally invite his guests, but to no avail. In fact, some guests showed their utter rejection and disrespect – they “seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them.” (verse 6) In our rejection of faith, have I made the same mistake as these guests? Have we not just rejected the message but have in fact turned hostile to the messengers? In response, the king extended his invitation to everyone. He said to his servants: “Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.” (verse 9) Significantly, the newly invited guests included “both good and bad” (verse 10) This refutes the notion for those of us who think that the Christian message is not for us because of our culture, heritage, family upbringing, state of wholesomeness. Indeed, the Christian message is for all of us, the message is for me.

Secondly, some of us think that just because we come to church and profess Jesus as our Lord on our lips, all our yearnings will be satisfied. Where we have remained unfulfilled, some of us even took the extreme response of walking away altogether! In the parable, there is a curious epilogue where the king noticed a guest without a wedding robe (verse 11). Furious, he ordered, “Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (verse 13) At first glance, it would seem the king was being most unreasonable. Afterall, the guest has just been invited at very short notice from the main street. How could the king expect him to have time to acquire and put on a wedding robe? However, to understand the king’s reaction, we need to appreciate that this epilogue is a separate parable embedded within the original parable. In the way, we are invited to consider the guest lacking a wedding robe in isolation. The message of this parable is that faith is not a box ticking exercise. The acts of coming to church, observing age-old rituals – these acts, while meritorious, are not magical. In other words, we are not passive receptacle of divine favours. We need to put on our wedding robe. We need to adopt the teachings of Jesus and make changes to our lives. My brothers and sisters, let’s ask ourselves: In areas of my life where I remained unfulfilled, am I waiting for a change to happen without any action on my part? For example, where I have a relationship issue, am I waiting for the other person to change? Am I prepared to change my perception and make the first move? Where I am finding no joy from self-indulgence, have I been too inward looking? Am I prepared to change my perception by bringing joy to others instead? Indeed, as St Francis of Assisi taught us, it is in giving that we receive. My dear friends, let us reflect: What is Jesus asking me to do this week? Indeed, not only is faith not a box-ticking exercise, it is more like a participative sport. Using a football metaphor, we don’t kick a goal by standing in the field and not doing anything!

Finally, let us ponder over these concluding words of Jesus in the Gospel: “For many are called, but few are chosen.” (verse 14) My dear friends, if we are unfulfilled, it is not because God has not chosen us. God has chosen us! But by our decision, like the guests who have other priorities or the guest who did not put on a robe, we have unchosen ourselves. Hence, many are called, but many have unchosen themselves.

Let’s wrap up our reflection this week with these words of St Paul in the Second Reading. St Paul urged us to see beyond the yearnings and fulfilment of this transient life. He wrote, “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. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (verse 12-13) This is a man who, having worked tirelessly for the kingdom of God, having given to others all his life has to offer, has found inner joy and peace. Amen.