28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

God’s Eternal Plan is to Gather Humanity into the Wedding Feast of His Son: 

Where Divine Love Becomes the Communion of All 

(Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Mathew 22: 1-14, 11 October 2926) 

With the narrative of the Parable of the Wedding Banquet, in today’s Gospel passage (Mathew 22:1-14), Jesus outlines the plan that God envisaged for humanity. The king who “who gave a marriage feast for his son” (Mathew 22: 2) is the image of the Father who prepared for the entire human family a wonderful celebration of love and communion around his only begotten Son. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 2020) 

Brothers and Sisters, In today’s Gospel, Jesus presents one of the most profound images of God’s plan for humanity: the wedding feast of the king’s son. “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his son” (Mathew 22:2). 

As Pope Francis reflected on this parable, the banquet reveals God’s desire to bring humanity together around his Son in a celebration of love and communion. 

God’s Kingdom Begins with an Invitation-The first word of the Gospel is not condemnation but invitation. Yet the tragedy of the parable is that some “made light of it and went off, one to his farm, another to his business” (Mathew 22:5). A person can become so occupied with life that he no longer has time for God. A family can become so absorbed in its own concerns that prayer disappears. A parish can become so accustomed to fewer people, fewer activities, and fewer relationships that it slowly accepts isolation as normal. The Gospel challenges us: Have we become too busy to attend the banquet? 

The Parish Must Become a Place of Communion-This question has particular meaning for us as a parish community. Our parish, like many parishes today, experiences the realities of an aging population, sickness, loneliness, poverty, changing neighborhoods, families moving away, and people who increasingly find themselves disconnected from the Church. We see empty pews. We know people who once participated actively but no longer come. Some are unable to come because of age or illness; others have become discouraged; still others have simply drifted away. There are people around us who are lonely. There are elderly parishioners who may go days without meaningful conversation. There are sick people who need someone to remember them. There are families struggling financially. There are people who once felt at home in the Church but now feel forgotten. For such people, an invitation to the banquet may begin with something very simple: a visit, a phone call, a kind word, a willingness to listen, or an invitation to come back to Mass. 

The Wedding Feast is Christ Himself-The banquet ultimately points beyond a meal. It points to Christ. The Father gathers humanity around His Son. Christ is therefore not simply one element within the banquet; He is the center of the banquet. Everything converges upon Him. This is why our participation in parish life matters. A greeting, a ministry, serving at the altar, praying the Rosary, joining Morning Prayer, visiting the sick, welcoming a newcomer, helping a family in need—these are not merely activities. They are ways in which the communion of Christ becomes visible. 

The Wedding Garment: Grace Must Become a Life-The Gospel, however, contains a difficult conclusion. One man enters the banquet without a wedding garment, and the king asks, “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?” (Mathew 22:12). The wedding garment reminds us that accepting God’s invitation requires transformation. The wedding garment is therefore a symbol of a heart transformed by grace—faith expressed through charity, forgiveness replacing resentment, humility replacing pride, compassion replacing indifference, and hope replacing despair. 

“Many Are Invited”: The Mission Before Us-Jesus concludes with the challenging words: “For many are called, but few are chosen” (Mathew 22:14). Our parish therefore has a mission larger than preserving what we have. We are called to invite, welcome, accompany, and gather. Let us not become discouraged by smaller numbers. Let us not allow empty pews to become signs of resignation. Rather, let them become reminders of the people whom God desires to gather. 

There may be someone who needs us to reach out. There may be someone who has stopped coming because he feels forgotten. There may be someone sitting alone who needs friendship. There may be someone carrying grief, illness, poverty, or disappointment who needs to hear again that God has not forgotten him. And perhaps there is someone already sitting beside us whom we have never truly welcomed. 

Conclusion: Become Servants of the Banquet-At every Mass, Christ sends us forth to become what we have received. May we never become merely spectators of the banquet. May we become its servants. May our parish become a place where the lonely discover friendship, the sick discover compassion, the poor discover solidarity, the discouraged discover hope, and those who have wandered away discover that the door is still open. For God’s plan is to gather us around His Son, where divine love becomes communion, communion becomes mission, and the earthly Eucharist becomes a foretaste of the eternal wedding feast of heaven. 

Fraternally, 
Fr. John Peter Lazaar SAC, Pastor