“a king who gave a wedding feast for his son”
In the Gospel we see a king and his Son. It is important that there is a king and Son. The king is the father who loves his son. We see the king (lover) and the son (beloved), the love between the two is the shared love. The wedding feast manifests the shared love; a love is so grand, that the king and son want others to partake in it. Saint Augustine describes the mystery of the Trinity as a lover, a beloved and the shared love between lover and beloved. [1] God is the lover. Jesus is the beloved. The love shared is so great that it is its own person, the Holy Spirit. We are called into this love. This lesson is lesson 2 of 3 and is focused on the Son, Jesus Christ and how we are called into the love of God by becoming the beloved of Jesus Christ.
How are we called into the love of Father and Son? God is the lover. Jesus is the beloved. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (John 3:16) “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
The Second Step is to become the beloved. We can be repentant, but what if we do not allow our self to be loved? What if we do not allow Jesus, the lover, to love us, the beloved? Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta says, “Tuberculosis and cancer are not the most terrible sicknesses. I think that a much more terrible sickness is to be unwanted and unloved.” [2] We have to realize that we are loved and then we have to allow our self to be loved. There was once a retreat that took place and at the retreat there was an Adoration chapel in which retreatants would walk past on the way to meals. One man noticed that each time he passed by the chapel for breakfast, then lunch, then dinner, he always saw a sister deep in prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament. He wondered to himself what she could be praying and how the prayer could keep her focused for so long. At the end of the retreat he asked the sister what she was praying in the chapel and how she was able to be in there so long. The sister told the man that she was not praying at all, but simply sitting there and allowing Jesus to love her. Jesus loves, desires, and wants to be united to us all.
The first lesson and first step focused much on the Father’s love for the Son and for all of humanity and the invitation that the Father gives. This lesson and the second step focuses on the second person of the Trinity the Son, Jesus Christ. We know from the Old Testament that God wants to be so united to His people that he desires to marry them. “On that day says the Lord, she shall call me ‘My husband,’ and never again ‘My baal.’…I will espouse you to me forever. I will espouse you in fidelity, and you shall know that Lord.” (Hosea 2:18; 21-22)
How is God going to espouse His people? He espouses His people through the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the lover who calls us his beloved. Jesus shows His love for us in that He makes us his beloved by espousing himself to us. It is in the person of Jesus, that we see the Father’s love. Saint Philip says to Jesus, “Show us the Father.” Jesus responds, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9) What does it mean that Jesus espouses Himself to us? He marries us. He is the lover; we are the receivers of His love, the beloved.
How does He marry us? Saint Pope Gregory the Great explains that God is like the King in this parable that made a marriage for His Son and who invited guests to the marriage. Those invited are not just invited to watch, but are actually invited to be the bride. “It is perhaps, clearer and safer to say, that the King made a marriage for His Son, in that, by the mystery of the Incarnation, he united the Church to Him. The womb of the Virgin Mother was the nuptial-chamber of that Bridegroom, of whom the psalmists says: He hath set His tabernacle in the sun: and He, as a Bridegroom, cometh out of His bride-chamber.” [3] At a wedding the bride stays in the bridal room, with her bridesmaids and gets herself ready. The groom cannot see her. The groom also remains out of sight of the bride. There is great anticipation for both to come out of their rooms and meet. How much more so is the anticipation of the Incarnation, Jesus the Son of God, and coming form from the chamber of the Theotokos (the God Bearer)! Jesus is the groom, Mary is the groom’s chamber and the Church is the bride. All of these truths are expressed in the Creed when we say, I believe in “Jesus Christ, His only son, our Lord” and “Conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary” and I believe in “The Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints.”
How can He marry all of us, each person? Jesus institutes the Church in which all the members are individual but as a collective is one bride. As St. Paul writes, “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:13) To have more than one Church is to have more than one bride, which is not possible. The love of Christ, in the tradition of the Church, has been portrayed many times by the mystics, who have had visions and dialogue with Jesus, the one they love and who loves them. Since we are a part of the Church, the words of Christ to the mystics are also addressed to us. In a vision to Saint Teresa of Avila Jesus said, “I would create the whole universe again, just to hear you say that you love me.”
God’s love is so great that He gives us a way to share in that love. We see that God is the lover and Jesus is the beloved. In the mercy of God, Jesus becomes the lover and we the children of God become the beloved, as the Bride of Christ, the Church. It is because Jesus loves us so, that He instituted a Church in which all are invited. It is within this one Church that one banquet takes place, the banquet of the Mass, which is a share or taste in the banquet of Heaven. In a marriage the bride and groom become one and so “loving Christ is the same a loving the Church.” [4]
What does it mean to say that the Church is the “Bride of Christ”? [5]
Jesus Christ truly loves the Church as a bridegroom loves his bride. To love is to give of one’s self. He binds himself to her forever and gives his life for her. Anyone who has ever been in love has some idea of what love is. Jesus knows it and calls himself a bridegroom who lovingly and longingly courts his bride and desires to celebrate the feast of love with her. We are his Bride, the Church. In the Old Testament God’s love for his people is compared to the love between husband and wife. If Jesus seeks the love of each one of us, how often then unhappily in love – that is to say, with all those who want nothing to do with his love and do not reciprocated it?
In what ways do we ignore our groom (Jesus) who loves us? Sin is an offense against God. When is the king [God] offended in today’s Gospel? He was offended and even enraged when the invited guests ignored him and went away and when they mistreated and killed his servants.
How can we have a greater love for the Church, the bride of Christ? We can obey her precepts; the ones that we love and respect we usually listen to and obey. What are the precepts of the Church? You shall attend Mass on Sundays and on holy days of obligation and remain free from work or activity that could impede the sanctification of such days. You shall confess your sins at least once a year. You shall receive the sacrament of the Eucharist at least during Easter season. You shall observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the Church. You shall help to provide for the needs of the Church. We can prepare and celebrate Her Sacraments. We can listen attentively to Her teachings. We can honor Her children, the Saints, the Holy Father, Bishops, Priests and all members of the Church. We can let others know about Her and what She can do for their lives.
[1] See Catholicism Episode Three (Outline VII)
[2] Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church [YouCat]; page 203
[3] Saint Gregory the Great
[4] Brother Roger Schutz
[5] Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church [YouCat]; section 127