28th Sunday, Year A – HOMILY

28th Sunday, Year A – HOMILY

By: Fr. Uchenna Onyejiuwa

Theme: Our Wedding Garments

Life, we all know, is fraught with formidable problems. No matter the status you find yourself in, you must one day have a feel of the difficulties of life, if no other thing, at least the difficulty of dying; although the degree of the problems individuals are likely to encounter in their lifetime varies according to their backgrounds and personalities. That is why most pessimists would always look at life from the lens of Job 7. However, celebrations are always there to help us spice up life, and from time to time we get invitations from kith and kin, directly or indirectly, to come and be part of a celebration we were never part of the struggle, to partake in somebody’s or other people’s joyous moments. Everything we are to eat and drink has all been paid for, including our transportation fare, the least that is expected of us is just to dress to the nines and make ourselves available for the occasion. But, rather, you chose to be in rags. What sort of welcome would you expect from your host?

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Our journey to eternity, the first reading tells us, is like a universal invitation to a great banquet, the occasion, most likely, is the marriage feast of the Lamb, and just like our temporal occasions or celebrations, it will be a time of relief from the troubles and pains of life, but unlike those sublunary celebrations, it will mark the end of man’s miseries and death, for the joy will wear the garb of eternity. But who shall stand at the appearance of the Lamb? Of course, those in their wedding garments. (See Rev. 7:9-10).

Here on earth, opportunities have been offered to us to fittingly sew our own wedding garments through our good works of charity,  righteousness and faith, like the one the Philippians did for St. Paul in the second reading of today, and for which he is grateful; for according to the Book of Revelation 14:13, it’s only man’s deeds that follow him to eternity. So my dear friends, let’s not act like the initial invitees or dilly-dally while the clock ticks, for we do not know how much of the time allotted to us to make this garment that we have spent and how much is remaining. No matter the situation or the reason, just try to avoid the tragedy of being asked to leave the banqueting hall of the Lamb after the travails of life to a place of utter darkness and pain, just because you failed to make your wedding garment. May the peace and love of Christ continue to abide with us as we prepare for that great banquet. I wish you a happy Sunday and a prosperous new week. (First reading, Is 25:6-10; second reading, Phil 4:12-14,19-20; gospel, Mt 22:1-14).

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