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Over
the years, a number of people have said to me, “Wear the suit for
the job you’re interviewing for, not the job you have.” The point
these people were stressing is that I should make sure that the
people would be evaluating me for a particular role should see me
dressed for that role. “Dress for the job,” is another way people
state this idea. Evidently, “the clothes make the man.”
If that’s
true, today’s gospel presents a challenge we all need to deal with,
especially when we gather on Sundays to celebrate the Eucharist
because, in the parable of the wedding feast we heard in today’s
gospel, the king turned away one of the guests. Why? Because he
was not appropriately attired. Evidently, his attitude concerning
appropriate attire was wrong…very wrong.
This fellow’s
attitude toward his attire is similar to one that is prevalent in
the today’s business world. That is, employees anticipate and very
much look forward to “causal dress Friday,” the day of each week
when employees don’t have to “dress up” for work; instead, they are
free to “dress down.” The problem is, however, that casual dress
Friday oftentimes transforms into an attitude. Then, over a period
of time, casual dress Friday becomes the norm governing how people
attire themselves on other six days of the week, even on Sundays
when they come to the Eucharistic banquet!
If we’re to
“dress for the job we want not the job we have” and it’s true that
“clothes make the man,” then it is very good to ask ourselves in
light of the parable in today’s gospel: “What do my clothes say
about me when I come weekly to celebrate the Eucharistic banquet?
What that man
in today’s gospel discovered, much to his embarrassment and chagrin
I might add, is that clothes do matter. “My friend, how is it that
you came in here without a wedding garment?”, the king asked. The
question reduced the man to silence. Then, the king ordered his
attendants, “Bind this man’s hands and feet, and cast him into the
darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of
teeth.”
Perhaps some
of you may disagree with me about the matter of “dressing down” and
how it becomes an attitude affecting the way many of us attire
ourselves for the weekly Sunday Eucharistic banquet. That’s all
good and fine. But, it is true that the clothes we select to wear
do symbolize something about our attitude and it is important to
challenge any attitude that would afford anyone of us the luxury of
selecting clothes that speak symbolically of the Eucharistic banquet
as if it we a picnic on the New Jersey shore!
More
importantly, however, there is a much more important garment that we
wear. As Christians, it is the garment entrusted to each of us when
we were baptized. That garment is Christ. On the outside, it is a
white garment, symbolizing the decision to turn away from sin—in the
waters of Baptism—and to put on Christ. As St. Paul made note of
this change of life in his letter to the Romans, St. Paul wrote:
“Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of
light….put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:12,14).
Our baptismal
garment is not merely an external symbol, pointing the “armor of
light” to which St. Paul was making reference. The garment also
symbolizes an internal spiritual attitude because when we put on
Christ, we unite ourselves with all of the virtues Christ
exemplified in his life. St. Paul enumerated these in his letter to
the Colossians, when he noted, “Put on, then, as God’s chosen ones,
holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility,
gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one
another….And over all of these virtues, put on love” (3:12-14).
Our readings
today make clear the idea that God personally has invited each and
every one of us to a wedding banquet—the banquet feast of
heaven—where the garment we will be wearing makes visible the
invisible virtues of Christ’s life in us.
Now, while
the idea of each of these virtues exists in the abstract, the
challenge for each of us is that we express these virtues—that is,
we make the invisible visible—through our words and actions. It is,
after all, one thing to think about being compassionate, kind,
humble, gentle, patient, bearing with one another and forgiving one
another. But, it’s quite a different matter if we are to be
compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, patient, bearing with one
another and forgiving one another each and every day of our lives.
As Jesus’
disciples, then, let there be no disagreement that there can be no
such thing as “dressing down” when it comes these virtues. There’s
no getting around the fact that God will put a question to us when
we present ourselves at the banquet feast of heaven. God will ask:
“My friend, how is it that your life didn’t show heartfelt
compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing
with one another and forgiving one another, and over all of these
virtues, why didn’t you put on love?” If we’re not wearing our
baptismal garment at its best, will we will be reduced to silence,
like the man in today’s gospel. God will then order His angels,
“Bind their hands and feet, and cast them into the darkness outside,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”
Unfortunately, the image of the wedding feast which Jesus used in
today’s gospel might convey the mistaken notion that we should be
relaxed and comfortable in putting on the virtues of Christ’s life.
After all, in our culture we make arrangements for weddings long
ahead of the wedding day itself. This affords us the time we need
to prepare and to put our affairs into order. For example, we have
to put the date on the calendar, arrange for time off from work,
secure someone to baby-sit our pets or to place them in the kennel,
make travel and lodging plans, and purchase a new suit or dress.
Our culture allows the luxury of time in order to prepare for such
formal events. All we have to do is RSVP.
In Jesus’
day, however, the formal invitation to a wedding came at a moment’s
notice. People had to pick up and leave immediately and, if they
didn’t, they were likely to miss out on the wedding feast. Were
people in Jesus’ day to take time to prepare for a wedding the way
we do, they’d quite likely arrive late if only because of the time
it would take to travel to the wedding feast, even though in those
days a wedding feast lasted one full week!
That’s the
very point Jesus is making in the parable about the wedding feast.
All too
frequently, translating the virtues of Christ’s life into life
giving actions is something we put off because we’re too busy or too
tired to meet the spiritual and moral needs of other people right
now. So, we take a “casual Friday” approach to living the virtues
of Christ’s life that we put on in the Sacrament of Baptism and
personally committed ourselves to in the Sacrament of Confirmation.
As a consequence of this lackadaisical attitude, our baptismal
garment—the life of Christ in us—becomes soiled, tattered and,
ultimately, worn out. But, more importantly, this soiled, tattered,
and worn out wedding garment on the outside symbolizes the soiled,
tattered, and worn out image of Christ on the inside.
We allow this
to happen in so many easy ways that we barely are conscious about
how our baptismal garment appears on the outside. And, where that’s
the case, we are even less conscious about the true state of our
souls.
St. Paul’s
list of virtues provides a helpful examination of conscience in this
regard.
Many people
around us are in desperate need of heartfelt compassion. The
question is not simply do we understand that virtue in the abstract,
but are we translating it into action through our words and
actions? Think about it: identify someone you noticed during the
past week who was sad, distressed, alone, or even hurting. What did
you do to offer that person heartfelt compassion? Or, did you have
an excuse—like being too busy—not to exemplify heartfelt compassion
in this concrete instance?
What about
kindness? The question is not simply that we understand what
kindness is and are kind to the people we like because, after all,
kindness is easy to extend to those whom we feel positively
predisposed toward. Think about it: identify someone you shied away
from during the past week because you didn’t feel particularly
predisposed towards to this person, and perhaps for a good reason.
What did you do to be kind to that person? Or, did you allow an
excuse—like what this person did to you in the past—not to exemplify
kindness in this concrete instance?
What about
humility? The question is not simply that we understand what
being humble is all about and requires of us but that we exemplify
humility in word and in action. Think about it: identify an
instance when you thought of yourself as superior to someone else
during this past week and put down that individual using as
justification your “obvious” superiority. What did you do to be
humble and to “build up” that person? Or, did you allow an
excuse—like contempt for this person—not to exemplify humility in
this concrete instance?
What about
gentleness? The question is not simply that we understand what
being gentle means. No, the challenge is to be gentle in all that
we do. Think about it: identify a situation when you earned the
title “The Hammer” during the past week when the situation dictated
that you be gentle with the person. How did you “rough up” the
person when a gentle word or touch was called for?
Then, there’s
the virtue most of us contend with day in and day out: patience.
The question is not simply that we understand that we are challenged
by Christ’s life to be patient in difficult and trying
circumstances. The challenge is actually to be patient when
difficult and trying circumstances challenge us. So, think about
it: identify a situation that pushed you over the edge this past
week and you became impatient. Why weren’t you patient and what
excuse did you offer to rationalize your behavior?
One set of
virtues is to bear with one another and to forgive one
another. This is more easily said than done! The question is
not simply that we understand that we are to bear with one
another—because we are all imperfect human beings (only the proud
think themselves perfect and others imperfect)—and to forgive one
another. No, the question is whether we actually did bear with
another and forgive that person. So, think about it: who was that
person this past week, that giant, big, and overwhelming PITA (you
know, pain in the _ _ _ ) who you hid from, turn away from, or
invented an excuse so that you did not have to interact with that
person? What excuse did you offer for not bearing with that person
and for not forgiving that person from your heart?
And, if
that’s not enough, St. Paul reminds us, “over all of these virtues,
put on love.”
Wearing our
baptismal garment is no easy task and this little examination of
conscience might very well indict each of us on multiple counts of
spiritual fraud. Unfortunately, we may be very much like that
fellow in today’s gospel who entered the wedding feast sporting
inappropriate attire. Booting him out of the wedding feast
demonstrated consideration on the king’s part for the other guests.
How much worse, then, is it for us when our baptismal garment
reflects the soiled, tattered, and worn out image of Christ in our
souls, because we think about being Christ-like more than we
actually are Christ-like! Booting us out of the banquet feast of
heaven would likewise demonstrate consideration on God’s part for
all of those of us who are appropriately attired for the banquet
feast of heaven.
Clothing may
be important and “clothes may make the man,” especially when we’re
competing for coveted jobs and the like. But, in light of today’s
gospel, what’s more important for us as Jesus’ disciples gospel is
the interior attitude that is symbolized in our words and actions.
Our readings challenge us to be honest with ourselves about the
depth to which our baptismal garment—which symbolizes our decision
to turn away from sin and to put on Christ—is revealed not in “works
of darkness” but in the “armor of light.” Do our words and
actions make visible the invisible virtues of Christ’s life shining
brightly in our souls?
A brief commercial
break...
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it may seem a bit premature for me to be making this announcement,
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HOMILY
