Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and elders of the people in parables, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come. A second time he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those invited: “Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast.”‘ Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.’ The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to meet the guests, he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment. The king said to him, ‘My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?’ But he was reduced to silence. Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’ Many are invited, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:1-14
The passage today is about how people respond to the preaching of the word of God. There are those who hear and do not heed and reject that Christ died for their sins and through Christ have salvation. There are those who hear but have more important worldly things to do and ignore the word. There are those who violently reject the word of the Lord as they cling to things of this world. Then there are those who hear the word of the Lord but do not fully accept the teachings of the Lord so they are not in a state of grace and are rejected by God as they do not fully believe in the word of God and the message of salvation through Christ. All are invited to receive God’s grace and the gift of salvation but not everyone is chosen. Reflect today on whether you are ready to participate joyfully in the celebration of the mass and whether your soul is in the proper state to receive the Eucharist as you respond to the King’s invitation.