Bible text: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a wedding banquet for his son”. Matthew 22. 1-14
The wedding banquet that was mentioned in the gospel is the return of Jesus Christ to the Father. The Book of Revelation described it as the wedding feast of the Lamb. It is called wedding feast because it tells us about the unbreakable love between the Son and the Father. The Father has loved so much the son that He gave Him power and dominion over all the earth and the Son reciprocated that love by dying on the cross. It is perfect love because the crucifixion is the ultimate manifestation of the love of the Son to the Father. In heaven, this feast is at the centre of celebration for all the believers. In the kingdom of God it is the victory party. This banquet is also being anticipated in the world through the celebration of the Holy Eucharist.
God has sent invitation to all peoples because He wanted to fill the banquet hall with countless guests. The Jews were actually the priority for this celebration but unfortunately they rejected the invitation. The master had ordered his servants to go to the streets and found the good and bad. They are the people of other races whom the Jews considered as sinners had gladly accepted the invitation. We are part of the wave of believers who had responded to the call of the Lord.
We have to prepare for the wedding banquet. It is not enough to show our interest for the invitation but we must know the dress code of the party. We will never enjoy the banquet especially the food and celebration unless we are not properly dress up according to the prescription. The wedding robe represents our purity to receive the food prepared by the Lord Himself. This is the very reason why it is a must to be in the state of grace before we receive the Holy Eucharist which means that we are free from any stain of mortal sin. We are also highly encouraged to observe Eucharistic fasting so that we can savour the sweetness of God’s presence in our life. Remember that when we are full, we will never enjoy the sumptuous dishes. Likewise, Eucharistic fasting creates space in us so that we can enjoy the presence Jesus in our life.
When we have this kind of habit while we are here in this world, we are indeed blessed because truly we prepared for the celebration of the heavenly banquet.