Mathew 22
Most wedding ceremonies take less than an hour. A priest may preach a long homily, but, the matrimony itself does not take a few minutes. It consists of the exchange of the marriage consents of a man and a woman.
On the other hand, the groom, the bride, and their families and friends spend months preparing for the marriage and the new household as well as the wedding ceremony itself. From the wedding dress to the honeymoon arrangement, from a new home to new bedsheets, from the bridal shower to the wedding party, we are overwhelmed by the preparation.
And it’s not only families and friends that prepare for marriage and wedding. When families decide to celebrate the sacrament of matrimony, the local pastor also prepares for their wedding by paper works, interviews and instructions. Many local parishes and dioceses also offer marriage preparation seminars and courses.
Why do we spend so much time and energy on a wedding? Because what comes after the wedding is so important for our life – the marriage and family. We don’t criticize too much a sumptuous wedding, because the marriage deserves a splendid treatment. Our life-long happiness depends on our marriage and family.
On this Sunday, Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. In this heavenly wedding, the Father in heaven prepares for the banquet. But where is the Son? In the parable, the king prepared the banquet with slaughtered animals. Likewise, God prepares the heavenly banquet with the Lamb of God, who has been slaughtered and has now risen. The Lamb of God is the food for the banquet as well as the Groom of the wedding.
Then, what about the bride? Where is she? The Lord has called mankind as his eternal bride. However, from Adam down to the contemporary man, mankind often ignored the Lord’s calling. God established a covenant with Israel through Moses and reminded them through the prophets, but they were unfaithful to God and his covenant. Finally, a new covenant came through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus, God’s only begotten Son. The Church becomes Christ’s bride through this new covenant, and all peoples hear the Good News through the Church. In the parable, when the king invited people, he was, in fact, waiting for the bride of his son. Likewise, God prepares the heavenly wedding by giving his Son as the Groom to the Church. And he is now waiting for the bride for the wedding.
Thus, this heavenly wedding joins the Groom and the bride forever. However, this wedding banquet is not merely a party filled with laughter. Because it is also a court of judgment. God will punish those who ignore his invitation. And he will expel those who don’t prepare for this wedding to the outer darkness.
Will this heavenly wedding banquet come at the end of the age only? In fact, we already participate in this banquet on earth at the Eucharist. Christ the Groom is offered as the food for this banquet of the Eucharist. By the reception of his body and blood, the Church joins her Groom. But then, we want to examine how well prepared we are for this union. For, in fact, at every Eucharist, we face the judgment of the Lord as well.
