HOMILY FOR 28TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR A)

HOMILY FOR 28TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR A)

THEME: The Parable of the Seasoned Procrastinator

By: Father Anthony O. Ezeaputa, MA

Today’s gospel reading (Matthew 22:1–14) tells the story of a king who, in his boundless generosity, throws a wedding feast for his beloved son. Through this parable, our Savior reveals that turning down God’s gracious offer has serious consequences, as does delaying acceptance of Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior.

The first part of today’s parable begins with the king dispatching his servants to inform his VIP guests that the feast was ready. They, however, declined to attend. The king dispatched additional servants, but the guests denied his invitation, mistreated, and murdered his servants. As a response, the king set fire to their town.
Despite facing multiple rejections, the king was still determined to host a banquet for his son’s wedding. This time, he orders his servants to invite anyone they can find to his son’s wedding banquet. His servants gathered all they found—bad and good alike. The king’s banquet hall was filled with guests.
The king’s enraged response to his guests who turned down his gracious offer is a powerful metaphor for the consequences of Israel’s rejection of God. They turned down an eternal banquet of fine food and fine wine, God’s comfort, and the total annihilation of death (Isaiah 25:6–10a).
If we reject divine invitations to live a Christlike life, we make choices with consequences. God will not send the divine forces to destroy us. But we will be deciding where we will spend our eternity. It is either eternal happiness with God in heaven or eternal damnation in hell.

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While heaven is a state of everlasting communion with God, hell is a state of everlasting separation from communion with God. While heaven fulfills the deepest human longings—a state of perfect and definite happiness—hell is the complete opposite—a state of wailing and gnashing of teeth (Catechism, 1023–1024, 1033).
God does not predestine anyone to hell; rather, it is God’s intention that none of his children perish but that all come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). God created us to love, know, and be happy with him now and forever.
But God cannot be happy with us now and forever unless we freely choose to love him. God cannot be happy with us now and forever if we sin gravely against him, against our neighbor, or against ourselves (Catechism, 1023–1024, 1033).
Someone once asked on social media, “Hey friends, have you ever wondered if there’s anything God couldn’t do?” The words of Saint Augustine resonate so deeply: “He who created us without our help will not save us without our consent.”

God cannot impose heaven on us, no matter how wonderful it is. He offers his love and leaves it up to us to embrace it freely (Catechism, 1037).
The VIP guests in today’s parable deliberately rejected the king’s offer, and the king paid them back. Similarly, we will be rewarded immediately after death. If you repent of your sins and live a good life, you will have God’s friendship forever. However, if you have denied God and died in sin, you will be separated from Him forever.
The second part of today’s parable begins when the king looks around the banquet hall. He notices a guest who is not wearing a wedding garment. “My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?” the king asks. What is here for us?
We want God to give an open feast to everyone. We want God’s banquet to be “inclusive”—all are invited. We want God’s banquet’s slogan to be “come as you are.” God, after all, is a loving and merciful father, but we often forget that God is also just.
But are we interested in hearing about God’s justice and judgment for those who reject his invitation? Are we interested in wailing and gnashing of teeth for those who rejected God’s rules and regulations? Are we interested in God’s standards? The kingdom of heaven has its own set of rules, my friends! (Tom Wright).

The guest who doesn’t have a wedding garment on is a metaphor for putting off following God’s commandments. As a matter of fact, Oriental manners demand that everyone who goes to a wedding banquet wear the right wedding dress. He didn’t even give any excuses to the king.
He was totally avoiding doing the right thing, just like a seasoned procrastinator. And then, out of nowhere, “Archangel Michael blew the last trumpet,” as some Nigerians say. Procrastination is never the way to go! It may appear that being busy with other things is the better option, but trust me, putting off what you could do right now is always the wrong decision.
God may invite us to his banquet as we are, but he does not want us to remain as we are. We must put on garments of God’s commandments. We must dress up with love of God and neighbor, justice, truth, kindness, compassion, and holiness.
When we became Christians, we all accepted God’s invitation to live according to his commandments. However, living by them will always be the next thing some of us intend to do but never do. Many are invited, but few are chosen!

Give your life to Jesus today! Think about where you want to spend eternity! Make peace with both God and your neighbor! Later may be too late. As they say, “what goes around comes around.” Your actions and decisions will determine where you’ll end up, whether it’s heaven or hell.

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