Ancient wedding feasts lasted many days, and a royal wedding feast was a thing to behold, a glorious celebration of joy and abundance! Do any of the invitees to the king’s wedding feast earn their invitation? No. The invitations come from the king’s generosity and kindness. Yet some of them simply refuse to come, some ignore the invitation, some go about their business as if they had not been invited. But some of them do something hard to understand: they not only refuse to come, but they also mistreat and kill the servants delivering the invitation.
So the king decides that those who have been invited are not even worthy to come, and others should be invited. He tells his servants to go out and “invite whomever you find.” They gather everyone, “bad and good alike,” and the hall is filled at last. But one of the guests is not dressed appropriately and has no excuse for this; he is kicked out “where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”
We see in this parable of Jesus the mystery of human freedom. The king could have forced or coerced the invitees to the feast, but he did not. The Lord could have chosen to force or coerce each of us into accepting his invitation to enter his Kingdom of Love, but he did not. Because love that is forced cannot be love. We are not robots that can be programmed by God to do and think what he determines; on the contrary, God created us in His image and likeness, with freedom and reason, so that we can see and think and choose what is good, true, and beautiful. And God is Goodness, Truth, and Beauty, inviting everyone to the everlasting joy of the perfect Kingdom of Life and Love that always was and always will be.
We cannot enter the Kingdom on our own terms, however. In order to enter into the eternal Banquet, the Wedding Feast of the Lamb, we must be clothed in the white garment we receive at Baptism, and which we keep clean by regularly confessing our sins and receiving the Lord in the Eucharist. The distortions of sin have to be wiped away so that we are properly prepared to be seated at the royal Wedding Feast of Heaven!
Everyone is invited to this Wedding Feast, but only those who welcome this invitation properly by walking in the ways of the Lord will be welcomed into the everlasting joy of God’s Love in Heaven.
Las antiguas fiestas de bodas duraban varios días, y una fiesta de bodas de la realeza era algo digno de contemplar, ¡una gloriosa celebración de alegría y abundancia! ¿Alguno de los invitados al banquete de bodas del rey se gana su invitación? No. Las invitaciones provienen de la generosidad y amabilidad del rey. Sin embargo, algunos de ellos simplemente se niegan a venir, otros ignoran la invitación, otros se ocupan de sus asuntos como si no hubieran sido invitados. Pero algunos de ellos hacen algo difícil de entender: no sólo se niegan a venir, sino que también maltratan y matan a los sirvientes que entregan la invitación.
Entonces el rey decide que ni siquiera son dignos de venir los que hayan sido invitados, y se debe invitar a otros. Les dice a sus sirvientes que salgan y “conviden al banquete de bodas a todos los que encuentren”. Ellos reúnen a todos, “malos y buenos”, y la sala finalmente se llena. Pero uno de los invitados no está vestido apropiadamente y no tiene excusa para ello; lo arrojan fuera donde habrá “llanto y la desesperación”.
Vemos en esta parábola de Jesús el misterio de la libertad humana. El rey podría haber obligado o coaccionado a los invitados a la fiesta, pero no lo hizo. El Señor podría haber elegido obligarnos o coaccionar a cada uno de nosotros para que aceptemos su invitación a entrar en su Reino de Amor, pero no lo hizo. Porque el amor que es forzado no puede ser amor. No somos robots que puedan ser programados por Dios para hacer y pensar lo que él determine; al contrario, Dios nos creó a su imagen y semejanza, con libertad y razón, para que podamos ver, pensar y elegir lo bueno, lo verdadero y lo bello. Y Dios es Bondad, Verdad y Belleza, invitando a todos al gozo eterno del perfecto Reino de Vida y Amor que siempre fue y siempre será.
Sin embargo, no podemos entrar al Reino bajo nuestras propias condiciones. Para entrar en el Banquete eterno, la Fiesta de Bodas del Cordero, debemos vestirnos con la vestidura blanca que recibimos en el Bautismo y que mantenemos limpia confesando regularmente nuestros pecados y recibiendo al Señor en la Eucaristía. Las distorsiones del pecado deben ser eliminadas para que estemos preparados adecuadamente para sentarnos en la Fiesta de Bodas Real del Cielo.
Todos están invitados a esta Fiesta de Bodas, pero sólo aquellos que acojan adecuadamente esta invitación caminando en los caminos del Señor serán bienvenidos al gozo eterno del Amor de Dios en el Cielo.
Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including Father Rob), and eight grandchildren. She is President of the local community of Secular Discalced Carmelites and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 30 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE, and as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio. Currently, she serves the Church by writing and speaking, and by collaborating with various parishes and to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is www.KathrynTherese.com
Feature Image Credit: geralt, pixabay.com/photos/heaven-clouds-cloud-shape-3335585/
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