Saint Augustine said that man’s heart is restless until it rests in his creator. That is why we all feel an inborn need to come to some understanding of what he is asking of us. We feel a need to know how to discern God’s call and to answer it. This remains a sign that man acknowledges his or her unique creation as an incredible gift from God. This in turn gives us a strong sense of belonging to God. Consequently, man’s genuine freedom is within the limits of becoming as God created him. In other words, we feel safer in our continuous self determination when we consider God’s will in our obligation of self definition. All of us would like to know the purpose of our being. Saint Paul urges us to lead lives worthy of that to which we have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Saint Paul’s teaching does not seem to be easy for us due to the many stresses of our every day life. We do not dedicate enough time to deepen our search for the will of God in our life. We often limit ourselves to making the assessment of our skills and talents in order to figure out what we should do with them. But our vocation, our call from God is much more than that, because it involves discovering and living out of the infinity and gratuitous abundance of God. We feel we can do more always in our search for the true purpose of our life. Prophet Isaiah looked ahead and told his audience that this urge in man to answer God’s call positively shall have a clear answer in the messianic time. He had a clear picture of life after the coming of Christ. The prophet depicts human life as a celebration of God’s victory, whereby God will prepare a banquet for all the people with rich food and fine wine and celebrate God’s victory over all that is like death as meaningless life, derision, failure, pain, sorrow, hunger, disease and marginalisation. According to the prophet, man would be called to a life of cheerfulness and happiness. When Christ came, it is true that he likened the kingdom of God to a banquet as Isaiah had predicted, but it did not happen in Isaiah’s style. Jesus narrated the parable of the king’s wedding feast to which most of the invited did not attend because they had their different business to cater for. This made the king furious. He sent for anybody found around in the crossroads because the wedding was ready. When those who were rounded up arrived, the king found out that there was one who came without putting on a wedding garment. The king gave the order to “bind him hand and foot and throw him out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.’ Because many are called, but few are chosen. Jesus here teaches us a great lesson about our invitation to the kingdom of God and on the way we must respond to it. To his contemporaries who were inspired by the teaching of Isaiah, he talked of the arrival of God’s reign of a banquet, an eschatological celebration. In his parable Jesus uses the banquet as a metaphor. If we do not answer the invitation, our places will be given away. The same parable warns us against the fatal mistake made by the old Israel, of thinking that the kingdom was still something of the future and that there was no urgency in responding to the invitation. As we go on, on our business today, we must continue to feel the urgency of the invitation, because now might be your time or mine. We must learn from Israel. When they failed to answer the invitation, other people took their place. The person dragged in off the street who is blamed for not being properly dressed for a wedding, warns us that we must all stay prepared for that invitation. The “wedding garment” is a symbol of a life led in conformity with God’s word as it has been revealed in Christ. The question behind this parable is whether or not you have your “wedding garment” ready here and now. casimir958@yahoo.com
