THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

Her Doctrine and Morals

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

8 October 2023

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Dear Friends,

Today, we are presented with the parable of the wedding feast (St. Matthew 22:1-14).

God the Son entered a kind of marriage with our humanity. Jesus entered this world through the Virgin Mary and became a true Man. God became Man. God gave Himself in a kind of marriage to humankind. For a marriage to be complete there must be a reciprocal gift of another. It takes two to get married. All that is lacking in God's gift of Himself is for us to give ourselves entirely to Him. Not only are we invited to the wedding feast, but we are more importantly invited to become the spouses of God.

A King (God the Father) prepared a wedding feast for His Son (Jesus Christ). He sent out His servants (Prophets) to tell those invited (The House of Israel) that it was time to come to the feast. Those who were invited ignored the invitation and returned to their houses and merchandise. Some even mistreated and killed the servants that were sent to call them.

The King sent an army to destroy those people and their cities. We see this historically fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem. Other servants (Apostles and Disciples of Jesus) were then sent to call upon those on the highways (the Gentiles).

The Gentiles were not invited initially but were only called when everything was ready. They did not have earlier notice of the wedding feast, but responded with faith and came to the wedding feast. The good and the bad were all called to the wedding feast. The only thing initially required of them was faith. The belief and acceptance of the invitation were based on the faith that was presented to them through the servants sent to call them. Through faith, we enter the Church and become spouses of Jesus Christ. However, faith alone is not sufficient. This is where many Protestants have gone astray. Good works must accompany faith. The invitation must be accepted and responded to, but we must also wear the proper wedding garment.

This wedding garment is the practice of all the virtues. However, all virtues are truly and ultimately comprised within the virtue of charity or love. It is not hard to understand that someone who agrees to and does enter marriage without any love for their spouse commits a grave offense. Having faith and entering the Church is not enough. Going through a marriage ceremony is not enough. We must take up the habits and mindset of a good spouse. As the spouses of Jesus Christ, above and beyond having faith and entering the Church, we must put on the wedding garment (the virtue of love — charity).

This parable is more than a mere history lesson for us of the rejection of the Israelite Nations with the destruction of their cities and their replacement by the Gentile Nations. Catholics are now the chosen people. Most of us have entered the Church in our infancy through the Sacrament of Baptism. We are very much like the Israelites who entered the Covenant with God through circumcision. We have received the invitation, and as we advance or mature, we are called to greater participation in the wedding feast through greater love and participation within the Church. We first entered through Faith, but more is needed. We must advance in grace and virtue. God makes this possible by giving us the Sacraments. We have no one to blame but ourselves if we do not accept the wedding garment of virtue God offers us through the Sacraments of the Church.

Even though we receive the Sacrament of Baptism through Faith, we must still put on the wedding garment of virtue. We find this wedding garment perfectly tailored for us in the Sacraments Jesus gave us in the Catholic Church. When we refuse or neglect the use of the Sacraments, we effectually refuse to put on the wedding garment. It will not be enough to say that we believed, have faith, and have entered the Church — the wedding feast. Without the wedding garment of grace and virtue provided to us in the Sacraments, we will be bound and cast out into the darkness (Hell), where there will be the weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Let us thank God for the grace of the True Faith and ensure that He finds us properly clothed with the necessary graces that we can only find in the True Sacraments.

May the Immaculate Heart of Mary inspire, guide, and protect us!