What Is Chosen: Homily for the 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time

28^th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                   October 15, 2023
Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette

Beating the messengers again! Just last week Jesus told us about people who killed the messengers rather than pay their rent. I offered the hypothetical explanation that the tenants of the vineyard had no fruit to give, so they responded to their shame and fear by killing whoever threatened to expose it. Indeed, we often respond to God in the same way – lashing out whenever he dares to touch on our sins, wounds, and weaknesses. Afraid of how demanding God is, we reject the cure to the very fruitlessness we’re so ashamed of.

But, you know, our reasons for lashing out at God are not always so easy to sympathize with. There’s no cause for shame or fear this time. The king in this parable isn’t demanding payment. He just wants people to come party with his Son, to celebrate his wedding. Quite the opposite of demanding payment, he’s just trying to give them something this time. A king’s feast! Food and drink well beyond anything they could get for themselves! Who would turn that down?

We would. Why? Ultimately, it’s because sin makes us stupid. It enslaves us to irrational behavior while claiming to set us free. If only it were obvious that sin is dumb. But it’s not. There is a kind of dark logic, a pseudo-rationality if you keep your gaze narrow enough for long enough. So we need to widen our gaze. But first, let’s try to understand what is making these potential guests act so irrationally. You could narrow it down to three things: distraction, greed, and stubbornness.

Distraction: Doing one thing means not doing something else. If I go to the King’s feast, it means there are other things I can’t be doing at that time. Those invited were caught up in whatever else and, rather than seeing the invitation as a gift, they saw it as an interference in what they’d rather be doing: a quiet evening, playing on the smartphone, watching the sports game, binging whatever. “Yeah, yeah, you’ve got a nice feast, but I’m already doing this other thing so no thanks.” We might be so distracted that we don’t even pause to consider what we’re turning down. We instinctively keep doing what we’re already doing, irrationally ignorant of the immense joy and glory we’ve just turned down for the sake of one more fleeting hit of dopamine.

Greed: Of those things we’re caught up in doing, some of them make money, which is why Jesus lists farming and business in his examples. Time spent at the feast is less time making money. So we grumble about the king’s invitation, seeing the gift as a burden that costs us more than it’s worth. “Whatever, king, enjoy your feast, but I’ve got work to do.” Even from the perspective of wealth, this is irrational. No matter how much you make, what you’d get at the feast is worth more than anything you could ever afford. But no. The money I’m making right now is right in front of me, so I don’t even consider it the infinite and eternal treasure I’ve just rejected for the sake of a few extra dollars.

Stubbornness: Going to the King’s wedding feast means change. Besides the loss of time and money, there’s this whole thing about the “wedding garment.” Only one person fails to wear it, so this garment must not have been that hard to get. There is no excuse. It wasn’t his lack of ability, but his lack of willingness: he was too stingy to buy it, too lazy to put it on, or too self-important to care. Whatever the reason, the implication is clear: the invitation to the feast is a gift, but you do have to do something in order to genuinely receive that gift.

That something is conversion. The King invites “good and bad alike” to the feast. This isn’t about who “deserves” to go to the feast, it’s about who is willing to accept the invitation and put on the garment of repentance. Admit your sin, turn away from that sin, ask for mercy, and come to the feast. It’s really that simple. But it’s not easy is it? Because if it were, we would do it. Or at least we might just ignore the message without killing the messenger. The Lord knows I’ve attacked his messengers for telling me hard truths. When, I wonder, will I be attacked for His message? When will you be attacked for it?

Why, though? Distraction, greed, and stubbornness explain why people don’t come to the feast, but why the violence, the hatred, the irrationality of it all? Because we resent the cost. Being a good Christian, even attempting to be a genuine Christian is going to cost us. Yes I am – rather, God is seriously asking you to give up comfort and pleasure to come to the feast. I genuinely am asking farmers and businessmen to make less money so they can come to the feast. I really am asking people to “change their clothes” – their habits, even habits that the world accepts – so they can stay at the feast and receive what is being offered. I am not judging anyone by doing so. I simply deliver a message from the one who will judge you and me both.

Mass every Sunday if at all possible. Confession and conversion before receiving Communion. Obedience to the commandments of Jesus Christ. These are non-negotiable parts of being a Catholic. They will cost you. But that’s just it, to see them as a cost is already irrational. It’s the result of being blinded by sin, of being distracted, greedy, and stubborn. We forget that all of this is a gift. On top of that, we now receive an invitation to something that is infinitely valuable.

We are irrational in thinking the invitation and gift are a burden, for resenting God for intruding with his love. We are irrational to not only reject the gift, but then insult, slander, or kill those who make the offer. We are irrational to pretend to accept the invitation, but then presume we can redefine for ourselves what it means to be guest, or even redefine the gift itself. All because it costs us something else that was never really ours in the first place. Let that sink in. The “cost” of time and money – those are fleeting things you don’t really “own.”

I’m not pretending that it doesn’t still hurt, that it doesn’t feel like a real cost to you and the ones you love. Of course it does. Those feelings and challenges do matter. Still, when a child throws a tantrum because someone tells them they can’t marry their own parents, it feels quite real to them. But does that make it rational? No. Yet, a parent is willing to bear the cost of their child’s irrational anger and rejection so that they might one day learn to accept the much greater gift of a real spouse.

So God and his messengers bear the cost of our irrationality. We crucified Jesus, who prays for us from the cross. Every year there are more martyrs for the faith and countless others who suffer in hidden ways so that we might accept the gift which, ultimately, only costs us the illusion of self-sufficiency. Eventually, however, a child must grow up.

“Many are invited, but few are chosen.” God already chose to invite us, so who decides whether or not we are “chosen?” We do. Eventually, the invitation does expire and we will get what we choose. If we choose anything other God – the true God, not the God we make up for ourselves, God who alone is the true light – if we choose anything else, then we have chosen darkness. And darkness we shall get. May God grant that none of us make that awful choice in the end.