28TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME–10/9/11
by Msgr. Eric R. Barr, STL
READING: MATTHEW 22:1-14
I. The Man Who Dressed To Be Damned
A. Jesus tells a great parable for our times. It’s an allegory. That means that the things in it stand for other realities. For instance, the wedding banquet is the Kingdom of God. The Master of the House is our Heavenly Father. The bridegroom is Christ, and the bride is the Church. Lots of people are invited, but few come. That’s the story of salvation isn’t it? God keeps inviting and inviting, but an awful lot of people say no. Finally, he goes everywhere and fills the wedding hall. There’s just one little bit of explanation we all need. In the times that Jesus told this parable, wedding garments were provided particularly to people who didn’t have any, sort of like those upscale restaurants that demand a suit and tie and if you come in without one, they give you one to wear for the evening. So there’s no excuse not to be dressed right at the wedding. And since things stand for other things in this particular parable, the wedding garments that people wear stand for their baptism and the faith that they have been given. Everybody who is there has been offered the proper garment, but this guy gets in dressed like a bum, but in the context of this allegorical wedding, he is dressed to be damned. For the master of the house, God himself, comes and asks why this is so. And he throws the man out bound hand and foot into the darkness to wail and grind his teeth. B. Why is this an important story for us today? Simple. That man, dressed to be damned, came into that wedding banquet and insulted everyone. It’s as if he went up to the bride and said, "It’s not about you, it’s all about me." It’s as if he went up to the groom and said, "I know it’s your wedding but I’m just here for the food and fun." It’s as if he went up to the master of the house and said, "I know you have rules, but I don’t want to follow them." It’s as if he went up to all the guests and said, "See, I can be a part of the celebration without doing all the things you have to do. I can have an enjoyable time on my own terms. C. Who does that man, dressed to be damned, represent today? You might say he stands for sinners. But you would be wrong. One thing we know about Jesus and his heavenly Father, they worked real hard to save sinners and Jesus always associated with them. They kept trying to bring sinners into the Kingdom, and the Church–the representation of the Kingdom on earth–was expected to keep extending Christ’s mercy. So the man dressed to be damned can’t stand simply for sinners. Maybe he stands for one type of sinner though. Maybe he stands for the unrepentant sinner who, in prideful arrogance, says that heaven is his because he wants it and no God, no Christ, and no Church is going to tell him otherwise. He thinks he can have the Kingdom without paying attention to the bride and bridegroom, to Christ and his Church. He thumbs his nose at the teachings of Christ as preached by the Church. He turns a blind eye to the obligations of being a Christian. He thinks that whatever he decides will be what God accepts. D. And it’s important for us to see what happens to him. Unlike the sinner who tries and fails but gets up and tries again because he or she loves Jesus and is really going to try to live the faith, this man, dressed to be damned, could care les about trying to live as Christ asks. He wants heaven on his terms. And God damns that man.
E. This parable is not addressed to those of us who sin and repent. It is addressed to those of us who think that we can have eternal life without the Church, who think we can disregard Christ’s teachings and make up our own. For a long time, you’ve heard about how Catholics have decided to pick and choose what they want to believe. Cafeteria Catholics they are called. Those are people who are dressed to be damned, just like that man in the parable. All of us struggle with Church teaching and with many of the sayings of Christ, and yet, as long as we try to figure out how to try to live like we have been asked to live, we are going to be okay. It’s only when we pick and choose, when we wear the clothes of arrogance and pride, that we get into real trouble. Everybody likes to think of Christ as super merciful and he is–to the repentant sinner. But neither he nor his heavenly Father have any problem tossing out into the darkness, into the night, into hell, those who refuse to wear the wedding garments of true faith, hope and love. The point of the homily is this: All of us are invited to heaven. But we have to be Catholic all the way–that’s the struggle of our faith lives. But it’s worth the struggle. God rewards us. What he won’t reward is people who think they can mold religion into their own image and likeness, taking what they choose to practice and disregarding the rest. Don’t dress to be damned. Instead, wear the wedding garments of faith, hope, love and live forever.
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