Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time-A
A common human experience is regretting something from our past. In retrospect, we often remember times when we didn’t act as we should have, even when we had the chance. When the past melts into the present, we realize the opportunity has passed for good, and regret sets in.
The universal human experience of losing a loved one is often ripe for regret. The apparent finality of death forces a person to reflect on what we said and what we should have done better to strengthen the relationship. It becomes clear that the closer the relationship, the more we may take it for granted. Living life and doing perfunctory things at the time seem so necessary, but at times like these, they turn into accusations once the loved one has passed away. More often, our inaction isn’t malicious or purposeful, but it does little to soothe or exonerate us after the fact.
This Sunday’s readings help us focus on this common experience: how easy it is, in the moment, to fixate on inconsequential things and miss the importance of present opportunities. In the first reading, the Prophet Isaiah puts forward the great expectation of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom will be like a feast with rich food and choice wines, and those who participate will experience God’s saving presence. When Isaiah prophesied about the Kingdom, he did so in expectation and as a promise for the future.
That promise came to fruition when, in the fullness of time, God sent his Son to inaugurate what Isaiah had preached thousands of years earlier. St. John the Baptist, the last of the Old Prophets and the first of the New, preached in the desert of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand!” It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken.” These words turned the anticipation of the Kingdom into reality.
From that point on, the Kingdom is not something we look forward to, for it is already here. Being a part of the Kingdom demands that the Christian live and interact in the present as a member of the Kingdom without procrastination.
Jesus reinforces the need to be attentive to the Kingdom in the present through another parable. A king prepared a marvelous feast for his son’s wedding. The first group of people invited refused to come, so he sent invitations to another group, who responded with excuses for not attending. Some ignored the offer and went back to his farm; others went to his business. The rest laid hold of the servants who were the representatives of the king and mistreated and killed them. Infuriated, the king killed the murderers and destroyed their city.
He then instructed his servants to invite anyone they could find to the banquet. One in particular came without wearing the customary wedding garment. When questioned about why he was not dressed appropriately, he was silenced and thrown out. The parable ends with the realization of the Kingdom: “Many are invited, but few are chosen.”
Our Lord reminds us that even with important earthly responsibilities, we should never lose sight of our spiritual ones. It is easy to become wrapped up in things and overlook the Kingdom of God present now. Particularly, cradle Catholics tend to forget who we are and what our destiny is. We begin to think missing Mass on Sunday or replacing prayer time with other things is an acceptable decision in the moment. Slowly but surely, when God’s invitation comes to us, we, like the second group invited, head back to our homes, businesses, and lives, while those we would never imagine as members of the Kingdom are far ahead of us.
If we never take the lesson seriously, we will be surprised when our time on earth ends. When earthly distractions are no longer an issue, and we are face to face with God, how can we not regret spending time on worthless things?
Our work now means accepting God’s invitation to be not the many but the few with no regrets.