¨a feast of rich food"  (Isaiah 25:6)

The mass readings for Sunday, October 15, present us with pictures of two different banquets. The one in the old testament tells of God‘s inviting all the peoples of the earth to the one feast of the kingdom. The gospel reading from Matthew presents Jesus‘s parable about the king who gives a banquet and certain people refuse his invitation, so he sends and invites others, even the poor and homeless, to fill his banquet hall.

Some years ago, I did a couple of blog posts suggesting that God invites everyone into the Kingdom: Christians and Jews, Muslims, and Buddhists, and people with no religious faith. One reader of these posts was incensed beyond belief at my preposterous position. He called it liberal psychobabble. One of his arguments against my position was that if everyone was going to go to heaven, what was the advantage of being Catholic? I suggested that for his own peace of mind he should stop reading my blog. I haven´t heard from him since.

Below let me a present a few points that have guided my reading of Jesus’s parable.

1. The entire Bible tells one single story of God´s love for creation, starting with Genesis and going straight through to the end of the book of Revelation. The entire Bible is heading in one  direction, toward love, unity, and toleration. You surely can see this in the last chapter of the book of Revelation in which all of creation is swept up into the heavenly Jerusalem.

2. But how to explain all those negative passages in both the Old and the New Testaments that argue that God is vengeful and seems intent on keeping people out of the Kingdom? For me, the answer lies in this very human formula: “three steps forward, two steps back.” There are passages throughout the Bible that give us glimpses of the heavenly kingdom of love toward which all creation, and all people, are heading. Those are the “three steps forward” passages, like the first reading at mass this Sunday. But then there are other passages that point in the opposite direction, and reveal a God who has a lot of human characteristics, such as vengefulness, anger, and irritability. This is a god who humans can be comfortable with, because we know how to deal with fellow humans who are like that. Thus the sacred writers include in the Scriptures passages that take us two steps backward, in the wrong direction as it were. We must never forget that the sacred writers are human beings, writing from a particular cultural point of view at a specific time in history, with their own human personalities talents and shortcomings. 

Lots of us are tempted, then, to concentrate on the passages that take us “two steps back,” because we can understand the dynamic in those passages. On the other hand, we cannot understand a God who is infinitely loving, and infinitely forgiving and who loves you and me just the way we are (this is definitely a three-steps-forward concept). Look at the two banquets presented in today’s mass, in the end both show people of all backgrounds, the good and the bad, sitting down agt the same banquet table. This is God´s vision for the world about three steps forward, while the other emphasizes two steps back.

3. A third point to keep in mind is that a parable is meant to teach one single point, rather than lots of different points. The point of today’s parable seems to be that Jesus is telling the leaders of the Jews that they are missing the opportunity to respond to his invitation, the kingdom of heaven is here, but they don’t see it. But at the same time, sinners and other outcasts from the Jewish mindset are answering the invitation and entering the kingdom.  We should be careful not to apply this parable too widely to our present day. We have to leave God room to love everyone. Now some of us don’t like to hear that; especially if we consider ourselves as already being present at the banquet. 

4. One final point. What about the the poor man who was invited off of the street and into the banquet? How come he gets tossed out for not having a nice wedding garment? Such a bizarre situation should catch our attention. Scholars suggest that this little scene is an addition to the original parable, and makes a secondary point. The wedding garment, they suggest, stands for good works, for acts of love toward God and neighbor. So anyone at the banquet, that is anyone who is already in the kingdom, is not guaranteed a permanent place, if they do not perform works of love. There is no place in the kingdom for those who are smug about their position: Our good works are still a necessary requirement for membership in the kingdom of heaven.

A few takeaways, then, concerning our two readings: first, remember to read the Bible with the idea of “three steps forward, two steps back.” Be looking for the passages that lead us in the direction of ultimate love and unity. Second, don’t ask the parable to do more than Jesus intended it to do. It is about Jews, who consider them selves a guaranteed place in the kingdom, while dismissing everyone else in the world. Third,  it is a good idea for us to identify with the man who is at the banquet, but has no wedding garment, the garment of good works, and loving deeds toward others. Each of us is still required to imitate Christ’s boundless love in our relations with other people.

And may the Lord bring us all together into the eternal kingdom of heaven. Amen!