The Lamb’s Wedding Feast:

Everything, or Just Another Thing?

The liturgical homilist faces a curious dilemma every time he sits down to prepare a homily, if he even has the time to prepare at all. Actually, we should prepare: you, our patient listeners, deserve a word that can instruct and edify, at times entertain, at times challenge, but always nourish your souls. The Eucharist is a banquet—the wedding feast of the Lamb, in fact—and the “best man” should offer a worthy toast before we raise our hands or open our mouths to receive the Divine Bridegroom into our bodies and souls. I have little respect for the inebriated best man who toasts a groom by mentioning his past dalliances, his fondness for partying hard that the presence of a bride is supposed to curtail, or any such nonsense. If it’s all true, God help that bride. As the Bride of Christ, the Church has nothing to worry about, for His pure, sacrificial love speaks for itself; and yet we speak, testifying to His goodness in a way that makes His bride grateful for having chosen to love Him.

The King extends the invitation to his servants: “Everything is ready; come to the feast.” In giving His Son, the Father gives “everything.” Those who accept the invitation receive “everything”; they receive Jesus the Bridegroom and become His Bride. How can a person reject such an invitation? It happens: some reject it outright, caring nothing for its importance. God has little time for such people only because they have little time for Him. Then you have the people who fail to recognize the full importance of the wedding feast by not presenting themselves worthily. One theologian says it so well: “The King should be happy that I come at all, that I still communicate, that I bother myself enough to leave my pew to stuff a bit of bread into my mouth.” Sounds callous, doesn’t it? We may want to examine our attitude, conduct, and attire at Mass, lest we treat the great Wedding Banquet like a Tupperware party or a soccer game. Of course, our attitude, conduct, and attire outside of Mass are also worth considering, because they will either convince us to accept the invitation or reject it.

What’s it worth to us? For the prophet Isaiah, the coming Messianic banquet promised physical satisfaction: “rich food and pure, choice wines.” But it also held out spiritual satisfaction: “He will destroy the veil [of ignorance] that veils all peoples, and wipe away the tears [caused by sin] from every face.” The sacrifice of Jesus Christ was not just a kind gesture that we pay respect to by showing up here every so often, in between shopping and sporting events. This is our life; He is our life! In the Lord’s Supper we offer perfect praise and thanksgiving to our heavenly Father in union with His divine Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit. For Jesus, “perfect praise and thanksgiving” was His life, and so it must be for us. In the midst of our trials, failures, joys, and successes, our faithful participation in the wedding banquet strengthens our bond with Jesus, our Love. Through Him who strengthens us, we find power to do all that we must do and endure all we must endure. Then, as His “best men and women,” we are able to serve Jesus the Bridegroom by speaking well of Him in our actions and words; we become honored members of the heavenly court.