On This Mountain, The Lord of Hosts Will Provide For All People

10-15-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Manasseh Iorchir, VC

Mount Zion, the mountain on which the Temple was built, was regarded as the holiest site for all adherents of Judaism. It was the political and religious center of Israel and only confirmed beneficiaries of the Old Covenant could claim exclusive rights to her. In Isaiah’s previous oracles (Isaiah 24 and the first few verses of 25), Israel is informed that she has lost favor with the Lord and reminded that she would be restored to favor if she would repent and reconcile with the Lord. In the First Reading, God designates this same mountain as the setting for Universal Redemption. God metaphorically referred to the event as a feast where rich food and choice wine would be served, the place where the veil of ignorance and death woven over all peoples would be destroyed, and the Lord would wipe away the tears from every face. In summary, Jerusalem will be the holy site for the redemption of people from all nations, not just the beneficiaries of the Old Covenant, and for the establishment of the new and everlasting Covenant that will admit all people who are willing, Jews and Gentiles alike.

Jesus echoed this concept of God “feeding” all people in the parable of the feast which He told to the Chief Priests and the Elders of the people. In the Parable, a King sent out servants to bring in guests who had been invited to his son’s wedding feast, but they refused to come. He patiently gave them another opportunity to keep their commitment by sending another invitation of which they again turned down with all kinds of excuses, some even took hold of the messengers, mistreated and killed them. In response, the King sent in troops to destroy their city, and dispatched his servant into the main roads to invite “whomever” they could find.

Obviously, Jesus was talking about adherents and leaders of Judaism to whom the invitation to right relationship with God was first extended, but who through their hypocrisy and covenantal unfaithfully turned down this gratuitous invitation. Jesus suggests that the invitation will thus be extended to everyone from every nation who is willing to attend. The Lord’s feast which is the covenant relationship with us is no longer the exclusive preserve of a select few. It is a universal invitation extended to everyone and admits anyone who believes in Jesus and is ready to allow his/her belief to be expressed in words, thoughts and actions.

However, once we have committed to Christ, we must do away with our “my way” attitude and be ready to be transformed by Christ into what God wants. This explains why the man found without the appropriate wedding feast garment was ordered to be bound and cast into darkness even though he had been afforded a really short notice of invitation. For some of us who may be wondering about the fairness of the decision to evict this fellow when he obviously had little time to change, we should ask how all the other conscripted guests were able to be in their wedding garments and why he alone “happened” to appear in an inappropriate covering. It is also safe to presume that his silence at the King’s questioning indicates tacit admission of guilt. The lesson here remains that though we all are invited to the Lord’s feast, each individual ought to open himself up to transformation by Christ in order to be ready for the day of reckoning. The Kingdom of God is not about our individual feelings and wants, it is about openness to the will of God which sometimes is in conflict with what we desire.

May we exorcize ourselves of all excuses that would hinder our prompt and positive response to God’s invitation to right relationship, and may we, through the sacraments, be aided to stand ready for the second coming of Christ with hope for the eternal ready.

Please be kind and may God bless you.

Fr. Manasseh