The Guest has no clothes

The Guest Has No Clothes
#12thandMass
October 10, 2023
This Sunday, we continue Matthew’s gospel, 22:1-14. Like last week’s
gospel, there is more killing of servants—those sent to gather the guests for the
king’s banquet. Very messy. In the end, the doors are thrown wide open to
anyone who would like to attend, but one guest comes ill-prepared. “Friend,
how did you get in here without a wedding robe?” the king asks. The poor
fellow is then bound and cast into the darkness. Had we been there, one of us
likely would have intervened, “Relax on the dress code!” or “You could have just
asked him to leave.” Bizarrely excessive, n’est-ce pas?
The audience is particularly important to situate: the chief priests and
elders, who have transformed authority (service of the common good) into power
(control of the common good). I believe Jesus is addressing the presumption
and entitlement. The wedding robe symbolizes the appropriate inner attitude in
one invited to the celebration of God. It would seem: awe and humble
gratitude. None of us has a right to God.
The expulsion of the guest does not suggest that God is prone to bursts of
rage. It reveals the Father’s vulnerability with respect to the Son, Whom He gives
to us. “For God so loved the world that He gave his only son.” (John 3:16).
When you give what is dearest to you, you are vulnerable. And, if ever someone
takes the gift for granted and/or presumes the gift is theirs, you are
understandably hurt and angered. The expulsion reveals that there is no room
for anything unloving in the presence of the One who is love. Do we seek
God with awe and humble gratitude? We are talking about attitudes not
emotions. It is not about feeling awe and gratitude. It is about focusing the eyes
of one’s heart in faith so to know that God is awesome. Ask for this gift…
In awe with you,
Dominique
fellow-pilgrim