Gospel Reflection on Matthew 22:1-14

October 11, 2026

And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast; but they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have made ready my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves are killed, and everything is ready; come to the marriage feast.' But they made light of it and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the thoroughfares, and invite to the marriage feast as many as you find.' And those servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.

"But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment; and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen."

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There's a story in the Hindu tradition that runs something like this. God and a man are walking down a road; the man asks God, "What is the world like?" God answered, "I'd like to tell you, but my throat is parched; I need a cup of cold water. If you can go and get me a cup of cold water, I'll tell you what the world is like." The man heads off to the nearest house to ask for a cup of cold water. He knocks on the door and it's opened by a beautiful young woman. He asks for a cup of cold water. She answers, "I'll gladly get it for you, but it's just time for the noon meal. Why don't you come in first and eat?" He does. 30 years later, they've had five children. He's a respected merchant. She's a respected member of the community. They're in their house one evening when a typhoon comes and uproots their house. The man cries out, "Help me, God!" And a voice comes from the center of the typhoon and says, "Where's my cup of cold water?"

It seems that our default position is to push everything off into the future. We're going to embrace God someday, and we deny the today offered by God. That's why the Kingdom already present becomes the Kingdom not yet.

It goes against the human grain for God to become concrete in our lives. It seems if we allow God to become real, people's desires and favorite notions are in danger. It can't be today because that would mean that our lives have to change today already.

One of the mysterious truths is that God has always had a very hard time giving away God. The most common image for what God is offering us is a banquet. It's not a trophy or a prize or a reward reserved for later, but a great participative and joyous party now. But no one seems to want the gift.

We'd rather have religion and laws and commandments and obligations and duties. It's actually quite common for us to be suspicious of God. We tend to think that talk of God and his invitation to follow him is all designed to trap us into doing something we don't want. We fear that God doesn't really want us to be happy, but demands something burdensome, tedious from us. We have real difficulty in appreciating that he's calling us to joy. As a result, we react to his invitation with coldness or aggression.

We're afraid that God wants to drag us away from the things that really matter to us. And today's story lists them. Business, property, our own personal projects. We can't enter into his joy if we're still weighed down by our own fig leaf garment. We've all found our own ways of hiding our nakedness and finding some way to make ourselves attractive.

The parable challenges us to leave our own affairs behind so we can enter into the joyful affairs of God. And no one is exempt from the call, including the one who chose not to put on God's joy. How dare you not change when you're with me? How can you continue to wear the garment of mourning when I've called you to joy? To continue to wear the garment of complaint when I've called you to happiness? The garment of revenge when I've called you to love? It's time the fig leaves we have sown together to cover our inadequacies are put away, and we can enter joyfully into the closeness with which God is offering us today.

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https://youtu.be/Dl0LJbLLbtQ?si=wAI1SIOUhMp3oliY