28 Sunday of the Year A

Is 25:6-10; Phil 4:12-14, 19-20; Mt 22:1-14

Introduction: This is a homily/Scripture reflection in a book, titled: ‘Every Week God Speaks We Respond’, Cycle A, intended to be published in the future by Reverend John Tran Binh Trong.

It was published in Vietnamese in the US 2007 and republished in Viet Nam 2010. To keep the author’s writing style, this homily has not been edited and may not be by a hired hand. However, if readers would like to point out mistake(s) in spelling and grammar and/or to suggest English phrases and expressions, it would be greatly appreciated by the author, whose English is not his mother tongue and who did not live in the US until his adulthood. Passive sentences are used intentionally in this context as to avoid using the first personal pronoun ‘I’ when applicable. That might be associated with any idea of egotism, in accord with the French saying, known as: ‘Le moi est haissable’ (The ego is detestable).

Each covenant between God and His people in the Old Testament is understood and interpreted according to the wedding image. The covenant between God and his people in the Old Testament paralleled the covenant between Christ and the Church in the New Testament. In the covenant between God and his chosen people, God refers to himself as the groom, and to his people as the bride. The nuptial image was used by Saint Paul and Saint John to compare a relationship between Christ, considered to be the groom and the Church as the bride (2 Cor 11:2; Eph 5:22; Apoc. 19:7-9; 21:2; 22:17).

The parable of the wedding banquet records different responses to the invitation. To invite somebody to the wedding is to expect him/her to attend the banquet. However, the guests invited to the wedding feast in today’s gospel, first declined the invitation. The second time, the king sent his servants to implore them to come to the banquet, saying to them: Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast (Mt 22:4).

The wedding feast relates to another heavenly feast, which Isaiah envisioned: On this mountain the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples, a feast of rich food and choice wines (Is 25:6). However, the invited guests still refused to attend. They used many excuses for their absence. Worse off, they abused, beaten or killed the king’s servants. When the invited guests declined the invitation, the king threw the party open to everyone to attend. However, when the king went in to see the guests, he caught sight of one, not properly dressed and ordered him to be cast into the darkness outside.

We might think that the king was unreasonable and unrealistic. Did the king demand too much here? How could he expect a guest, who was just invited from the streets to dress properly for the wedding? However, according to the Jewish custom at that time, sometimes the groom family provided fabrics to the guests so that they could make their own wedding garments. The host family also provided wedding garments, hanging at the entrance for the guests to wear

If we do not know about this tradition, we might think the king was unreasonable, demanding too much. However, according to most biblical scholars, then perhaps this piece of story about the guest who did not wear his wedding garment was the conclusion of another story, incorporated by Saint Matthew into the parable of the wedding banquet.

Therefore, when it is read as one story, it sounds sudden and difficult to understand. Anyway, the parable of the wedding banquet shows when the guest wanted to attend, he had to follow the wedding tradition, and the tradition was almost considered as a law. Thus, anyone who refused to wear the wedding dress meant he showed contempt for the host. Therefore, when he was questioned why he did not wear the wedding dress, he kept silent, because he could not find any excuse.

According to the parable, the wedding feast was referred  to the heavenly banquet; the king referred to God; the king’s son referred to the Messiah; servants referred to the prophets and apostles; guests referred to the chosen people in the Old Testament; city burned referred to Jerusalem destroyed in the year seventy.

As in the parable of the tenants, the vineyard will be given to other tenants, and then in the parable of the wedding feast, other guests in the street such as gentiles and sinners will be invited to the wedding feast. The wedding dress understood in a figurative sense means the invited guests have to wear a proper dress for the occasion. The invited guests must show some sign that they accept the invitation seriously.

The wedding feast was given priority to the chosen people in the Old Testament. However, they did not respond to God’s invitation through his prophets. John the Baptist, the last Old Testament prophet came calling the people to repentance to prepare the way for the Messiah. However, many of them were indifferent, not responding. When the Messiah came, they rejected Him. When they rejected him, the invitation was sent to all kinds of people. The invitation to attend the heavenly banquet has been sent to millions and millions of people, including us, since the foundation of the Church in different circumstances and times. Today we must ask ourselves this question. How have we been responding to God’s invitation?

A prayer asking to partake in the heavenly banquet:

O Lord our God, we thank you

for paying attention to our gentile ancestors.

Through the sacrament of Baptism, you invited

our ancestors to partake in the heavenly banquet of your Son.

As a result, I inherited my ancestors’ blessings.

Grant that I may be faithful to my baptismal faith

as to partake in the heavenly banquet. Amen.

 John Tran Binh Trong

Hằng tuần Chúa Nói Ta Đáp, Năm A đã được xuất bản tại Hoa Kì và được xuất bản lần 2 tại Việt Nam. Lời giới thiệu về sách được ghi ở Mục: Sách của Tác giả trang chủ cuối cột 1 ___________________

Every Week God Speaks – We Respond, Cycle A was published Online in the US. The introduction of the book is recorded at “Sách của Tác giả Chủ trương, Column 1.

Hằng tuần Chúa Nói Ta Đáp, Năm B đã được xuất bản tại Hoa Kì và được xuất bản lần 2 tại Việt Nam. Lời giới thiệu về sách được ghi ở Mục: Sách của Tác giả trang chủ cuối cột 1

  Hằng tuần Chúa Nói Ta Đáp, Năm C đã được xuất bản tại Hoa Kì và được xuất bản lần 2 tại Việt Nam. Lời giới thiệu về sách được ghi ở Mục: Sách của Tác giả trang chủ, cuối cột 1.

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 Năm Mục Vụ Giới Trẻ 2021.  HĐGM ấn định một chương trình Mục vụ Giới trẻ 3 năm với các chủ đề tương ứng: Năm 2020: Đồng hành với người trẻ hướng tới sự trưởng thành toàn diện.

Năm 2021: Đồng hành với người trẻ trong đời sống gia đình. Để hiểu ý nghĩa và thực hành, xin nhấn vào đường dẫn này:

https://giaophannhatrang.org/vi/news/muc-vu-gioi-tre/cong-bo-logo-nam-muc-vu-gioi-tre-2021-20614.html

Năm 2022: Đồng hành với người trẻ trong đời sống Giáo hội và xã hội.

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Năm Thánh Giu-se: Nhân kỷ niệm 150 năm Đức Giáo hoàng Pio IX chọn thánh Giuse làm Đấng Bảo Trợ Giáo Hội Công Giáo, Đức Phanxicô đã ban hành Tông thư “Patris corde” – Trái tim của người Cha – và công bố “Năm đặc biệt về thánh Giuse” từ ngày 8/12/2020 đến ngày 8/12/2021. Để biết thêm ý nghĩa và áp dụng vào hoàn cảnh VN, xin nhấn vào đường dẫn này:

https://tgpsaigon.net/bai-viet/nam-thanh-giuse-nhung-dieu-nguoi-cong-giao-can-biet-61799

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Năm “Gia đình Amoris Laetitia” 2021 về “Vẻ đẹp và niềm vui của tình yêu gia đình” do Bộ Giáo Dân, Gia Đình và Sự Sống tổ chức, được Đức Phanxicô khai mạc dịp Lễ Thánh Giuse 19/ 3/ 2021 và bế mạc ngày 26/6/2022 trong dịp Hội Ngộ Thế Giới các Gia Đình lần thứ 10 diễn ra tại Roma. Để biết thêm ý nghĩa và áp dụng, xin nhấn vào đường dẫn này:

https://tgpsaigon.net/bai-viet/nam-gia-dinh-amoris-laetitia-muc-tieu-va-sang-kien-62928

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Hình ảnh giải trí.

 

Dương Lịch & Âm Lịch