A Seat at the Table

A Reflection on the Gospel for Sunday, October 15th, 2023:
Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Matthew
​22.1-10

Once more Jesus spoke to the chief priests and Pharisees in parables: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come.

“Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: “Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.”’ But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.

“Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests."

​Pause. Pray. Reflect.

Anyone who’s ever planned a wedding knows that sometimes, when you send out invitations to your wedding, you get mixed reactions. Some people RSVP right away, sharing in the excitement. Some send their regrets. Some mail their RSVP card just under the wire, and some simply never send that reply card back. As the bride and groom, you want to make sure you have enough chairs, dishes, and food for all of your guests, but you also don’t want to have so much that there’s wasted food and empty tables.

In the Gospels, Jesus preaches several parables that use the analogy of a wedding feast. He’s using this analogy because it’s a touchstone in every family. Every parent, grandparent, and child has a story about a wedding. There’s knowledge, even second hand, of the challenges, the excitement, them mixed feelings about whom to include and exclude. What story are we telling with the ceremony? How will we rejoice together with our guests?

Marriages are, sacramentally, a community event, just like baptism and confirmation. Unlike the other sacraments, it is a sacrament conferred not by the priest but by the bride and groom on each other, before God and the Church. It is a sacrament that imitates the relationship between Christ and the Church – a total self-giving and binding together.

Knowing what we know about marriage as a sacrament, whether or not there are guests at the wedding banquet is of great importance. This is a community event. It is a chance to enjoy on earth a taste of what will be in heaven. It is designed to be witnessed and delighted in. When the King’s invited guests refuse the invitation to the banquet, the King sends out for more guests, providing to strangers seats that were reserved for family and friends.

Jesus is telling us something of great importance, couched in a parable about a sacrament that is part of the story of every family. He is drawing us in and saying the quiet part loud: You are invited to the Holy Marriage Feast. You have a seat at the table. You have a choice about how you will respond to this invitation.

Will you go back home and take a nap? Will you go to your business and log a few more hours? Will you reject the Messenger, offering all manner of abuse? Jesus said they made light of it – they didn’t take the invitation seriously. They viewed it as something that could be ignored or left for another day. But a wedding banquet is a once-in-a-lifetime event for the bride and groom. It is one of the weightiest things a couple will do in their lives. 

So too is our choice to respond to this invitation. Will you leave the RSVP card under the stack of unopened mail, collecting dust? Will you send your regrets, prioritizing some other earthly, everyday thing? Or will you send your RSVP quickly, with excitement and overwhelming joy? 

There’s a seat at the table waiting for you. Come join the community and witness the marriage of heaven and earth!

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Stéphanie Potter

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