HOMILY SUN 28-A

Wearing the Wedding Garment

(Isaiah 25:6-10a; Psalm 23; Philippians 4:10-14, 19-20; Matthew 22:1-14)

*****************************************************************

Imagine that Queen Elizabeth has decided to invite one person from each country in the Commonwealth to the wedding of Prince Harry, all expenses paid! It would be preposterous to think that the one Canadian chosen out of 35 million would turn down this fantastic opportunity.

What we don’t need to imagine is that each and every one of us is being offered an even greater invitation – to enter into and live in the Kingdom of God, right here and right now. There is only one stipulation – we must wear the wedding garment of repentance.

It is hard to believe that in the gospel, the chief priests and the Pharisees are turning down that same invitation – to live with Jesus, the Messiah, in his kingdom. The language in the gospel is hard and striking for a reason. Jesus is using Semitic Hyperbole or holy exaggeration to get through to the religious leaders the gravity of their refusal. This is the language of love, similar to a parent who says to a child, “I told you a thousand times not to do that! The exaggeration is meant to convey the seriousness of the action.

The other readings strive to describe the beauty of that kingdom and that invitation. Isaiah proclaims that we will rejoice in his salvation. The psalm invites us to “live in the house of the Lord all the days of our life.” Note – all the days of our lives, not just after we die. And Paul assures us that all our needs will be provided for. The greatest of those needs, of course, is the Holy Spirit – and Jesus teaches us that his Father wants to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask, so that is one prayer that will always be answered.

The gospel ends with disturbing mention of the one guest without a wedding garment who remains silent – a key to understanding this parable. The wedding garment is a spirit of repentance, an openness to change, renewal and transformation. This is what we can resist in our own lives. One very dedicated Catholic layperson told me years ago, rather emphatically, that “God made us the way we are and that is the way we are supposed to stay!” He did not like it when I spoke of change, renewal, transformation.

Another way of describing this wedding garment is the Greek word theosis. It means divinization, change, transformation, becoming more and more Christ-like. This is what our lives in the kingdom should consist of. St. Paul, in 2 Cor 3:18, proclaims that we, with unveiled faces, are being transformed by degrees from one glory to another through the Lord, who is the Spirit.

We need not be surprised that the chief priests and Pharisees rejected the invitation to the Kingdom. We do it all the time. I remember asking Tony at an AA Round-up how many years he was in the program. He replied proudly, “23 years.” I congratulated him and asked him what step he was working on. He hesitated, then said sheepishly, “Step 1!” I turned to his wife and asked if he was on a dry drunk. She nodded her head vigorously.

Tony was on a 23-year dry drunk – not drinking, but also not growing, healing or changing. Perhaps some of us are also on “faith dry drunks” – in church, baptized and praying at times, but not really sincere and still hanging on to our petty favourite sins. There are powerful false gods that surround us – the main ones being possessions or pleasure, prestige or fame, power and control. Everywhere we look, people are pursuing these to either medicate their pain or run away from their challenges. The Portugese have a saying, “Where we spend our time and money – that is where our treasure is.” So, we can ask ourselves, is Jesus really the priority in our lives, or are we addicted to these false gods?

Actually, the 12 Step program is tailor made to help us enter the kingdom of God and experience theosis, transformation, divinization. Steps 1 – 3 are an introduction: “I can’t, he can, I’ll let him.” Steps 4 & 5 are an experience of forgiveness from God, ourselves and one other person – a transformative experience. Steps 8 & 9 are an experience of forgiveness from all the people we have hurt along the way, and perhaps reconciliation as well if an apology is met with forgiveness, another transformative experience. Steps 6 & 7, the core of the program, are an experience of healing of our defects of character. What are these? Painful emotions like fear, anger, jealousy that we may be harbouring even now; negative attitudes such as false pride, selfishness, stubbornness, self-righteousness and tendency to judge, and even our addictions. This is where theosis, transformation and divinization really kicks in. Steps 10 – 12 are maintenance, living with the program on a daily basis.

Justin is an example of someone who is in this process of theosis and divinization, and starting to live in the kingdom of God. An alcoholic and drug addict as well as an ex-convict, he turned his life over the Jesus while incarcerated with the help of a Catholic chaplain, joined AA and NA and is in his fourth year of sobriety. He not only works the steps himself, but also sponsors numerous other addicts. He does amazing Step 12 work, has taken in recovering addicts and put them through the program, attends church regularly, prays the Liturgy of the Hours, and is now founder and CEO of a fledgling society about to open a safe residence for former prisoners on their way to treatment for addictions upon their release. He is a great example of theosis, divinization, transformation.

The Eucharist is a foretaste of the eternal wedding banquet that awaits us. It is also, in itself, a powerful experience of healing and transformation to those who celebrate it with genuine faith. We are forgiven and healed by Word and Sacrament, and we who receive the Body and Blood of Jesus, are in turn transformed into the Body of Christ, sent out to be bread for the world.

So, let us put on the wedding garment of repentance, celebrate this our wedding feast as the Bride of Christ with genuine faith, experience theosis and divinization, and enter more fully into the Kingdom of God.