"My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?" Mt 22:12
The gospel about the street person who accepts an invitation to a wedding but does not bother to wear a wedding garment is always puzzling. Why would an king, angry and disillusioned with friends and tribes people who refused to come to his son's wedding, dismiss someone who accepts his invitation for a seemingly innocuous fault? There are as many answers to this question as there are people posing it.
Some suggest that the man without a wedding garment represents the Jewish leaders who refused even to entertain the idea that God would act outside of their authority or understanding. In this case, pride gets in the way of integirty. Most of us have been in this situation ourselves more than a few times.
Others cite the ancient custom that everyone who came to a wedding was given something to wear, making it clear that anyone without a wedding garment was openly dismissive of the king's generosity. But the interpretation that is most intriguing proposes that the man without the wedding garment is resisting an interior conversion. Unless we accept God's call to change our lives and proclaim the good news, we have no right to come to the wedding. Not wearing a wedding garment is a sign of arrogance that condemns us.
Today, listen for the master's call to the wedding and find a wedding garment!
What makes you reluctant to accept God's invitation to the wedding feast?
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