28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Once again the Sunday readings provide us with a consistent theme: the promise of the eschatological wedding feast of the Messiah. Each reading provides a poignant aspect of this great mystery and promise.

In the first reading, Isaiah is trying to console and inspire the Jewish people who are suffering in Babylon. Their temple has been destroyed and they are far from Mount Zion in Jerusalem. It is within this context that Isaiah announces the Messianic promise of the banquet on the mountain of the Lord. In attending this feast we will no longer have need of the Temple veil that shrouds the presence of God. At the feast we will behold God as God is, our sins forgiven, and our fears relieved.

The responsorial psalm continues this theme with the famous hymn of the Lord as our shepherd. Again, the theme of Messianic fulfillment is evident in the words: God will provide abundantly for all of our needs in verdant pastures. Notice that the location of the feast shifts from the mountain in Isaiah to a pasture in the Psalms. Each image has special significance for its original audience and for us today. A mountain conveys the sense of closeness to God and getting God’s perspective on the world, while the pasture is clearly an image of peace and serenity.

The second reading at first glance seems out of place, but in point of fact we see Paul providing the essential focus for the readings. These Messianic promises do not refer to physical satisfaction in terms of hunger and security. Instead, it provides us with the serenity of spirit needed to trust God for all of our needs. Paul is referring to the context of his persecuted church. His people were shunned by the Jews and suspect by the Greeks. No doubt their livelihoods were meager, as Paul certainly had that experience of want. Yet, if we have God we have all, and God will provide for us in our need.

Finally, Jesus uses the image of the marriage feast to describe the eschatological fulfillment of the Messiah’s coming. The invitation to that feast is extended first to those in the kingdom – the Jewish people. However, not only was the invitation ignored, but also it was scorned in the worst possible terms – beating the messengers who brought the good news. The original invitation list, then, is cast aside and everyone who could be found are brought into the banquet. Still, we must have our wedding garment to attend worthily. What is the wedding garment? St. Gregory the Great gives us the answer:

“For if we say it is baptism or faith, is there anyone who has entered this marriage feast without them? A person is outside because he has not yet come to believe. What then must we understand by the wedding garment but love? That person enters the marriage feast, but without wearing a wedding garment, who is present in the holy church. He may have faith, but he does not have love. We are correct when we say that love is the wedding garment because this is what our Creator himself possessed when he came to the marriage feast to join the church to himself. Only God’s love brought it about that his only begotten Son united the hearts of his chosen to himself.” (Forty Gospel Homilies 38.9)