REFLECTION
A MARRIAGE
FEAST
A
marriage feast is another image Jesus uses to talk about the Kingdom of God. A
feast where God will provide for all peoples rich food and choices of wine!
That sounds good like a nice party! The Hebrews, like other peoples of the
ancient Near East, were enormously fond of social feasting. Nevertheless the
parable that we read in today’s Gospel (Mt 22,1-14) contains one of the most
enigmatic passages on the Gospel: the guest without the wedding garment? How
can we interpret this passage, which left us somehow with a bittersweet flavor?
Some answer may be found if we take a look at the historical context of the
parable.
A
marriage feast included wine drinking, as we see in the story of Cana. And if
the banquet was large a second invitation was usually sent on the day of the
feast, and also a servant escorted the invitees to the feast. The host welcomed
the guests with a kiss, and their feet were washed because of the dusty roads
(remember the story of Jesus and the woman that washes his feet in the house of
the Pharisee that invited him for a banquet?). Following this, the guest’s head
was anointed, as well as sometimes his beard, his feet and his clothing. The
people invited were seated according to their respective rank and their hands were
washed. But the most relevant event for us now is that when someone was invited
to a marriage feast and banquet, the host of the feast provided robes and
garments for the guests, which were worn in his honor and as a token of his
regard. Here we have the problem! This guest didn’t want to use the garment
that the host gave him to wear!
I
believe we do that sometimes. When God invited us to his feast of life, he gave
us a garment; the garment that God’s children must use, a garment made out of
love and mercy. How often do we use that garment? Do we use it at all? If we
have answered a yes to his invitation, it
would be nice if we use the garment he gave us to wear in honor of Him, who is
all love and all mercy!
José Mario
Nieto
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