Matthew's account of the great wedding feast is loaded with passion, anger, humanity, and beautiful hope. Isaiah sets the tone in the first reading: the Lord will provide a bountiful banquet. There is no need to worry or be anxious there will be enough food and drink for all the guests to enjoy. At Cana, the gospel of John records that it is Mary of Nazareth who realises that the couple are running out of wine. The guests are going to have a rather basic party, but, in this miracle of multiplication, Jesus provides more than enough. As Isaiah tells us, the reign of God is about plenty--people need not worry as they will be given more than enough.

Matthew is able to use this rich biblical imagery to present his parable in the context of Jesus speaking to the chief priests and the elders of the community. These are the very ones who should have recognised the power and majesty of Jesus' ministry. However, their vision of what the Messiah should be like could not fit the humility and service that Jesus offers. His outreach is to those on the margins and, over these past few weeks we have been reminded that God will reach out to the sinners and to the marginalised. Today's story reveals that over-arching love of God that is unconditional and accepting. In the king's great wedding feast, the invited guests were not interested.

However, especially in the light of the horrors we have seen in the Holy Land in these times, the invited guests do not just reject the invitations, they kill and maim the messengers that the king sends. In turn, the king retaliates and a vortex of violence follows. Violence can never be the answer whatever your political cause. In reacting to the sheer wickedness of the Hamas attacks, we cannot blame all Palestinians. In looking at how legitimate Palestinian lands are annexed against international agreements, we cannot blame all Israelis. People have the right to peacefully co-exist, as we respect each other's traditions. The Birmingham Pub bombings were acts of pure evil, yet it could not excuse the grave miscarriage of justice that led to six innocent men being arrested, tortured, tried and found guilty because somebody had to pay! Had the death penalty been in force, I have no doubt that these men would have been executed such was the anger at the time. As the world tries to come to terms with the gravity of this evil around Gaza, we need to work for a true and just peace. As we have seen in the north of Ireland and South Africa, this has to be a global effort so that Israel and Palestine can learn to respect rights. In the evil of these awful events, let us pray that we can be forced, as a global family, to support the innocent, and work for the peace of Jerusalem.

In our parable today, the king turns to the poor and the marginalised to fill the wedding banquet. Food and drink have been provided and it must not go to waste. We are told that this wedding feast, the symbol of the plenty of heaven, welcomes all: good and bad alike. So often Pope Francis reminds us that the Church is not a place where only the perfect can find a home. I recently met a group of priests who seemed to be preoccupied in looking at the negativity and evils of our world--they could not seem to find beauty or forgiveness anywhere. I found their negativity toxic. Such an attitude allows the terrorists to triumph, but we are bigger than that, as, today, Matthew offers a vision of hope that even I, with all my failings and with a long list of mistakes to my name, can enter that glorious banquet of God. We are made welcome and can offer real hope to everyone we share the table with.

The choice is simple, as we move forward: are you happy to return the way we have always done things, or are you ready to embark on a new and exciting way of being Church-even at the risk of making mistakes? I am heartily sorry for those mistakes I personally have made in ministry and offer unconditional apologies to anyone I have hurt. It is in those experiences of hurt that we gain valuable experience and become those 'wounded healers' that our Church needs more than ever today as we face the evils of last weekend. As the wisdom of Henri Nouwen reminds us:

Who can save a child from a burning house without taking the risk of being hurt by the flames? Who can listen to a story of loneliness and despair without taking the risk of experiencing similar pains in his own heart and even losing his precious peace of mind? In short: "Who can take away suffering without entering it?" (The Wounded Healer)

Author: Fr Gerry O'Shaughnessy SDB

Photo by Andra C Taylor Jr on Unsplash