November 8th 2026.

The Thirty-second Sunday of Ordinary Time

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GOSPEL: Matthew 25, 1-13

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini broadcast on Vatican Radio

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Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel

 

GOSPEL: Matthew 25, 1-13

Jesus told this parable to his disciples: 

‘The kingdom of heaven will be like this: Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were sensible: the foolish ones did take their lamps, but they brought no oil, whereas the sensible ones took flasks of oil as well as their lamps. The bridegroom was late, and they all grew drowsy and fell asleep. But at midnight there was a cry, “The bridegroom is here! Go out and meet him.” At this, all those bridesmaids woke up and trimmed their lamps, and the foolish ones said to the sensible ones, “Give us some of your oil: our lamps are going out”. But they replied, “There may not be enough for us and for you; you had better go to those who sell it and buy some for yourselves”. They had gone off to buy it when the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding hall and the door was closed. The other bridesmaids arrived later. “Lord, Lord,” they said “open the door for us.” But he replied, “I tell you solemnly, I do not know you”. So stay awake, because you do not know either the day or the hour.

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ

 

SUMMARY

 The Gospel parable for Sunday is about the bridesmaids who are waiting for the arrival of the Bridegroom. Each one of us knows intuitively that we were created for something important and beautiful! We were created to encounter fulness, to encounter the Spouse of our hearts. If we lose the sense of waiting for this ultimate encounter, then we become shadows of ourselves. Even if our Spouse seems to delay in coming, it is worth waiting for him because he is so beautiful. Woe to those who extinguish hope in the hearts of young people! We need to say to young people with confidence: prepare yourself well for your mission of being parent, spouse, friend, student; you are being called to an encounter with the beautiful! Fill up with oil the jars of your existence! If it is necessary to wait for a while and be vigilant, then so be it! We must educate our young people so that they are know how to be vigilant for what is truly beautiful and meaningful, instead of living instinctive lives of vanity and emptiness. Our young people are often fixated with the transitory, with the next weekend, as if nothing else mattered, but they need to learn to use this present moment to prepare for something greater. Now is the time to fill our jars with oil. We do not know when the Bridegroom will come, only that he surely will, perhaps on the last day of our lives to lead us into the feast of heaven, or maybe at a critical moment when we wants us to show love to someone in difficulty. Be that as it may, now is the time to fill our jars with oil. At times, life challenges us to do something important or difficult, and we are there with our reserves empty. Let us be ready for action, filled with oil. Sometimes we are visited by beauty, but we are oriented to what is empty or fleeting, we are distracted, and we end up not growing. Let us be ready. Let us not trust in ourselves but wait for the Lord.

 

Three parables in Matthew 25 are directed to three different groups of people: those who never knew Christ; those who work in the service of the Church; and those of us who are invited to enter into relationship with Christ here on earth.

Chapter 25 of Matthew provides the readings for the three last Sundays of this liturgical year, with three parables on the judgments to which humanity will be subjected. The third parable is for those who meet Jesus for the first time at the end of time, the scene of the King-Shepherd who divides "all peoples" among those who, even if they did not know it, took care of and welcomed Jesus in the poor, and those who did not reach out to the poor. The second parable (that of the talents) is for those who have been in the service of the Lord. Have they carried out their mission in the way they were called to? This Sunday's parable is the first one in the chapter, and it is for those who were called to enter the feast together with the Bridegroom. They are those who have been given the privilege of encountering the Bridegroom and being invited by him into the Wedding feast to which humanity is destined, the salvation for which we were born. Have we made use of this opportunity or wasted it?

 

These parables have a serious message. We can fail and can lose the blessings that were possible for us.

In all three cases we are faced with a dividing line, a crossroads where life always has only two opposite outcomes: we end up either inside or outside! This is the tragic dimension of our existence; it is a fact that we are headed either towards the light or the darkness. We are challenged to accept this serious message: life can be wasted; we can misuse the chances we are given to make life beautiful. Whether we like this message or not, it is a fact. There is value in knowing that failure is possible and that we must get our act together. 

 

We have an innate sense that life has an ultimate meaning. We know intuitively that we are destined to enter into relationship with the Bridegroom. It is essential that we do not lose the sense of living for what is noble, just and beautiful.

In our parable, the meeting with the Bridegroom is not accidental but is the result of a period of waiting. We naturally have an expectation that life is leading to something meaningful; we understand from childhood that we were not born by chance; we sense that we are moving towards something important, that there is someone we are destined to meet. Every person who comes into the world is “programmed” for what is true, noble, just, lovable, and what is worth waiting for. And he must not miss that which he is destined for.

 

Like the ten young girls, each one of us tends either to live life seriously, aiming to do all things well, or we live it instinctively.

The ten young girls in the parable are awaiting their encounter with what is beautiful, but they wait in two different ways. Some do it instinctively, without preparation: they go out with their lamps and wait, without thinking about it. But important things should not be done in such a superficial way! The others make an investment for the beauty they expect to encounter, procuring extra oil for their lamps. For them, there is something at stake that is worth spending money on, worth the effort of preparation and organization. They are wise and are using their heads, whilst the others are foolish. Each one of us tends to be like these two types of youth: either we prepare for great things and aim high, or we base our lives on the immediate, on instinct. 

 

We all have opportunities to fill the “jars” that will provide light for our lamp. Each day, we have these possibilities to prepare, to grow, to unite ourselves with the Bridegroom

But those who sense the depth and riches of life are right. They feel the greatness of things and consider it worthwhile to prepare for it, to strive for it, to be ready to embrace it. There are many opportunities to grow and to prepare, at any age! We need to fill the “little jars” that we have with the graces that we receive here and there. These are the opportunities to receive oil, perfume, and a source of light for our lamp. It pays to prepare. Hope, says St Paul, does not disappoint.

“In the Stars the Glory of His Eyes – Tales from an Irish Tour Guide in Rome”

FROM IGNATIUS PRESS

Tales of unexpected blessings, hilarious true stories, unique perspectives on the lives of the saints. An original, entertaining and orthodox presentation of the Catholic faith. You won’t be able to put it down!

"Captivating."

— Elizabeth Lev, Professor of Art History, Rome.

“Entertaining.”

— Cardinal Seán Brady, 

Ireland.

"I laughed out loud many times, and told the stories to others who laughed just as hard."

— Sally Read, Author.

"Enchanting."

— Bishop Brendan Leahy, Diocese of Limerick.

"Unique and insightful."

— Archbishop Kieran O'Reilly, Cashel and Emly.

November 1 2026 - Feast of All Saints.

GOSPEL: Matthew 5, 1-12

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel

GOSPEL: Matthew 5, 1-12

‘How happy are the poor in spirit; theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Happy the gentle: they shall have the earth for their heritage.

Happy those who mourn: they shall be comforted.

Happy those who hunger and thirst for what is right: they shall be satisfied.

Happy the merciful: they shall have mercy shown them.

Happy the pure in heart: they shall see God.

Happy the peacemakers: they shall be called sons of God.

Happy those who are persecuted in the cause of right: theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

‘Happy are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven; this is how they persecuted the prophets before you.’

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ

Summary . . . This Sunday we celebrate All Saints with a reading of the Gospel of the Beatitudes. The list involves a lot of passive verbs – “they shall be comforted, shall be satisfied, shall be called”, etc. What this passive form highlights is that the blessed person is someone who is on the receiving end of the work of the Lord; he is the Lord’s handiwork. Unfortunately, we often think of sanctity as something that depends on our work, our activity, our qualities. Sometimes, when we read the lives of the saints, we are inclined to focus on their exceptional qualities. But a saint is really someone who does not oppose the working of God in their lives. Technically, we are all holy from the moment of our baptism. The challenge is to allow the holiness of the Lord to manifest itself in our lives. There is not a holiness of St Francis of Assisi or of Ignatius of Loyola. There is the holiness of God that we encounter in these saints. When I encounter sanctity, I am put in touch with the power and beauty of God. But how does the holiness of God become rooted in these saints? The ground in which holiness manifests itself is in poverty of spirit. This is ground that can be common to all of us! We are all in grief, all in need of mercy, all hungry and thirsty for righteousness. We are not righteous in ourselves and know that we need to be made righteous by God. We are not the parent, or child, or priest, or friend, that we should be. God supplies for our insufficiency and incompleteness. We were made incomplete so that we might be filled with God. Those who have no need of others are people who don’t enter into relationships. They don’t need to. A person, however, who knows that he needs the Lord’s mercy and his providence is someone who has opened himself to the grace of God. The feast of All Saints is not a day to marvel at the exceptional qualities of others, but a day to allow God to work in our poverty and insufficiency. We are all called to taste the holiness of God. Holiness is not simply the fruit of our good intentions. It requires connecting ourselves to the Father, living as his sons and daughters, rather than living as subjects who are autonomous. The holiness of God involves being in relationship with the Father and allowing that relationship to shine forth in our lives.

Is sanctity about conformity to an unattractive style of life? Is it all about self-denial?

The Church celebrates sanctity by proclaiming the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes are a combination of poverty, grief, hunger, thirst and even persecution. Holiness doesn’t seem all that desirable, does it? The other common idea of holiness, though, is not so attractive either. It talks about self-denial, an attitude that seem unreal, even if beautiful. Who can measure up to these ideals of holiness? It must be remembered that before the multitudes of saints canonized by recent popes - which have made holiness closer and less abstract - for centuries it was more normal to look on the saints as bearers of extraordinary human virtues. Sanctity, certainly admirable, was impractical unless one was born with exceptional qualities.

In the Gospel, however, Jesus says that sanctity is all about happiness, not misery!

Yet, the Gospel passage that the Church proclaims repeats the same word, obsessively. This word becomes like a background noise, remaining under the other things that are said. The word is "blessed" (translated “happy” in the Irish/British lectionary). It is repeated nine times, coming always at the beginning of each sentence. The rules of communication say that the most repeated thing, in general – even if it is not the most important - is still central. The word "blessed", beyond the interesting etymologies that it carries within itself, is powerfully connected to happiness, to enjoyment. Jesus begins the most important of his sermons, which will unfold for three chapters in the Gospel of Matthew, repeating the word “happiness” nine times. He did not come to bring beautiful vestments for the sacristy, but joy, happiness, exultation. A saint is someone who has scored a goal. He is one who has found the path of happiness. In fact, before proclaiming anyone a saint, the Church must recognize him as blessed, a person who has reached a state of exultation.

Holiness is not about duty but joy. 

This tells us that holiness is not a question of duty, but of pleasure. Real pleasure, pleasure that is not transitory, pleasure that is worth having. Today there are so many people who mimic happiness, who feign joy. Our culture is made up of a sea of false happiness, with highs, self-affirmations, victories over others, transgressions. And it is a world full of emptiness. These false joys consume everything and leave nothing. They demand that we seek even greater “highs”, bigger risks, increased doses. Such behaviour, however, only leads to even greater emptiness. This false joy claims that the only other alternative is a mediocre life made up of security and comfort. But holiness is not mediocre! It is a life of colour, of passion, of greatness, of beauty. It's what a boy and girl want when they get married. It's what a child wants when he has great aspirations and dreams. Holiness involves going straight to the target and reaching the goal of life. It involves learning to love and to love a lot. True happiness has only one source: true love.

 October 25th 2026. The Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL: Matthew 22, 34-40

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini broadcast on Vatican Radio

  

Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel

 

GOSPEL: Matthew 22, 34-40

When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees they got together and,

to disconcert him, one of them put a question,

‘Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?’ 

Jesus said, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart,

with all your soul, and with all your mind.

This is the greatest and the first commandment.

The second resembles it:

You must love your neighbour as yourself.

On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets also.’

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ

 

Summary . . .  In the Gospel, Jesus proclaims the shema, so central to the orthodox faith of every devout Jew, the commandment to love God with all of our heart, soul and mind. Then he tells us that a second commandment “resembles” the first: you must love your neighbour as yourself. What does Jesus mean by “resembles”? Is he pointing out some kind of structural similarity? No, what Jesus is saying is that this second commandment belongs irreplaceably with the first. To obey one commandment implies obeying the other. If I “love” God and forget my neighbour, then my love is false. If I “love” my neighbour and ignore God, then my love is false. Authentic love requires both the “vertical” and “horizontal” elements. Sometimes in the Church we find people who focus on the relationship with God to the exclusion of the people around them. Often, they are preoccupied with precise liturgical norms and rubrics. But the relationship with God is deficient if it is not translated into the tenderness of fraternal love. On the other hand, if I am devoted to fraternal love and charity without reference to the invisible, then my “love” will also be deficient. To the extent that my “love” is founded purely on human considerations, then that love will be as small as we are ourselves! Love needs to be open to the greatness of that which transcends us. Christ banished the darkness of this world by showing the love of God for us from the cross. I need to be open to the love of God in order to love my brothers and sisters in the right way. I must love my brothers and sisters in order to love God genuinely. These two commandments are inseparably united in the person of Jesus. In him, the relationship with God became a relationship with our brothers and sisters. As Jesus says in the last line, on this love for God and neighbour everything depends. If the things we do are not done out of love, what sense have they? This great Gospel puts all the secondary and trivial things in perspective. Nothing matters but love for God and neighbour.  

 

At the end of our lives, the only question we will ask is: Did I love?

The question from Sunday’s Gospel: “What is the greatest commandment?" What is the most important thing to do? What is it that decides everything? It is not so difficult to answer: when events prompt us to look at our lives - and this can happen for a thousand reasons – the first question we ask ourselves is if we have loved others genuinely, if anyone is happy because of us. Often, when a priest hears the last confession or the last worry of a dying person, there is only one real question: did I love? Have I been a good father, a good mother, did I leave anything good to those around me?

 

The devil tries to distract us from the priority of love. He does not need to make us do evil to achieve his purpose. It is enough to distract us and make us fixated with secondary, empty, things.

Jesus is right: loving God and loving one's neighbour is all that matters. Everything depends on this. This insight can illuminate the futility of a thousand secondary things. We are constantly distracted from this priority by the work of the evil one. He does not need to make us do evil. It is enough for him to distract us from doing good. He keeps us engaged in secondary things, gets us caught up with activities that are not bad in themselves, but which simply are not love. Outside of love there is no happiness, but only substitutes for happiness.

 

Scripture tells me to love my neighbour as myself. Does this mean that my first priority must be to love myself?

Yet, there is more to love than the popular viewpoint realizes. In reality, everyone talks about love, everyone sings about it, everyone writes about it. But we have to examine what they are talking about, because the world is full of chatter about false, transitory and ambiguous love. In fact, it is not true to say that “love” brings “happiness”. What is true is that only real love brings real happiness. In recent decades, much preaching has focused on the phrase of Jesus, taken in turn from the Book of Leviticus: "You must love your neighbour as yourself". Sometimes the conclusions drawn from this phrase have been appropriate, but at other times a simplistic equation has been made of the sort: the Lord tells us to love our neighbour as we love ourselves, and therefore if one does not love himself he ends up not loving others either; conclusion: you must first learn to love yourself! 

 

The problem with focussing on loving yourself is that it is impossible using your own strengths. Only the knowledge that we are loved Christ can free us of self-doubt or self-hatred.

Fifty years ago it was urgent to underline this point, because we had to free ourselves from an image of love dominant at that time which only spoke of impersonal obligation. However, this led to further problems: to love yourself, to accept yourself, is not just difficult, it's impossible! The fact is that I need to be loved if I am not to despise myself. It is only when I am loved that I escape the trap of thinking that there is something wrong with me. Only Christ can lead me to look upon myself without horror, without that sense of insufficiency that I carry inside. 

 

The solution is not to focus on love of self, but to see that our true centre is outside of ourselves, in communion with Christ and others.

There is a mystery here! I must love my neighbour as myself, but if the first obligation becomes to love oneself, then I can become so focussed on myself that I forget the neighbour entirely! The task of that sentence is to get us out of the vortex of self-destructive narcissism. Narcissus, in Greek mythology, was the one who dies in the well of his own image because he does not listen to the nymph Echo who calls him to look at her and love her, and this is today's problem: obsession with ourselves. Christ leads us to our true centre, which is love, but this centre is outside of us, it is in relationship, in communion, in unity. Because it is precisely when I am with God and with others that I discover myself. Nowadays there is a big emphasis on teaching children to look for self-fulfilment, but what we really need to teach them is to look beyond themselves and be with others.

“In the Stars the Glory of His Eyes – Tales from an Irish Tour Guide in Rome”

FROM IGNATIUS PRESS

Tales of unexpected blessings, hilarious true stories, unique perspectives on the lives of the saints. An original, entertaining and orthodox presentation of the Catholic faith. You won’t be able to put it down!

"Captivating."

— Elizabeth Lev, Professor of Art History, Rome.

“Entertaining.”

— Cardinal Seán Brady, Ireland.

"I laughed out loud many times, and told the stories to others who laughed just as hard."

— Sally Read, Author.

"Enchanting."

— Bishop Brendan Leahy, Diocese of Limerick.

"Unique and insightful."

— Archbishop Kieran O'Reilly, Cashel and Emly.

October 18th 2026. The Twenty-ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL: Matthew 22, 15-21
Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini broadcast on Vatican Radio
 
Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel
 
GOSPEL: Matthew 22, 15-21
The Pharisees went away to work out between them how to trap Jesus in what he said. And they sent their disciples to him, together with the Herodians, to say,
‘Master, we know that you are an honest man and teach the way of God in an honest way,
and that you are not afraid of anyone, because a man’s rank means nothing to you.
Tell us your opinion, then. Is it permissible to pay taxes to Caesar or not?
But Jesus was aware of their malice and replied,
‘You hypocrites! Why do you set this trap for me? Let me see the money you pay the tax with.’
They handed him a denarius and he said, ‘Whose head is this? Whose name?’ 
‘Caesar’s’ they replied.
He then said to them, ‘Very well, give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar – and to God what belongs to God.’
The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ
 
Summary . . .  This Gospel passage is sometimes interpreted to refer to the necessity of a balanced division of loyalties: a certain debt is owed to God and a certain debt is owed to the state . . . But this would be a fairly superficial reading. Let us consider the passage more closely. The Pharisees and Herodians are the most unlikely of allies! One is on the side of Rome and the other is against, yet they join forces to try to trap Jesus, asking him if people should pay tax to the Romans or not. As he always does, Jesus lifts the discourse on to a higher level, refusing to be bogged down in questions that ultimately derive from the enemy of humanity, Satan. The Lord takes a coin which bears the image of the Roman emperor, with an inscription that proclaimed him to be divine. And then Jesus says: “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God”. The real question the Lord wants us to consider is this: what really belongs to this world and what really is owed to God? The world tries to dominate our lives, our relationships, our affections, our loyalties. It seeks to manipulate and exploit the deepest things within us for motives of worldly gain. In fact, the currencies that we use bear the images of worldly powers, but each one of us is made in the image and likeness of God! Woe to us if we give to the world those things that belong properly to God! Woe to us if we turn the faith into an instrument for advancing our own material wellbeing or power! Let us recall the martyrs of the first centuries who were killed because they refused to acknowledge the emperor to be divine. Let us follow that army of people who exercised their baptismal discernment correctly and gave back to the world, the flesh and the devil what belongs to it. St Francis gave back to his father all of his worldly possessions, even his clothes. Once we belong to God, then we will, quite naturally, give to Caesar what belongs to him. We will be good, law-abiding citizens, but as a consequence of the fact that we are living for heaven. This is a life ordered to what is good and true, the concrete realisation of the fact that we were made in His image and likeness and belong only to him. 

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In Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus demonstrates to us a good technique of discourse. Often we are bogged down in questions that do not lead anywhere. Jesus answers the question with another which lifts the conversation onto a higher level.
In Sunday’s Gospel, two unlikely factions become allies in an attempt to ensnare Jesus. Herod was on the side of the Romans, since they maintained the king in power. The Pharisees were against Roman rule, but they still united with the Herodians to lay this trap for Jesus: "Is it lawful, or not, to pay the tax to Caesar?" If Jesus had answered yes, he would have put himself on the side of the Roman invader and oppressor; if he had said not to pay, he could be denounced to the authorities as an instigator of rebellion. In response, Jesus does what he always does: he brings the discourse on to a higher and more noble level. It is a good opportunity for us to learn from this technique of his: he regularly answers questions with other questions. Often, we are besotted with the wrong questions. Instead of torturing ourselves in searching for answers, we need to jettison the questions that are misleading us. 

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What is the higher level to which Jesus raises the discourse? He challenges us to consider what really belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God.
Then Jesus asks to examine the coin used to pay the tax. Normally, the Roman Senate did not permit the image of the emperor to appear on the currency, but, during the very years of Jesus’ public ministry, the emperor’s image was permitted, along with an inscription that affirmed him as "divine". The first martyrs of the Church knew all about this self-deification of the Empire. Many Christians were led to the gallows because they refused to perform sacrifices to the emperor. All regimes, before and after Rome, have some version of the public cult of the absolute leader, up to the most tragic modern examples. When Jesus sees the coin, he replies: "Render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God". This raises the question: “What, exactly, belongs to whom?” This is the level to which Jesus moves the discourse.

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What is of Caesar? What is of God? Our very selves, our life, our heart, our relationships. Money bears the image and inscription of this world, but humanity bears the image and likeness of God.
An immense group of people in the history of the Church have exercised this baptismal discernment, giving back to the world what belongs to it, while handing over to God what really belongs to him. Francis of Assisi returned even his clothes to his father to take on the clothes of new life, a life that was poor in the things of this world, but immensely wealthy in truth. Money, in fact, bears the image and inscription of this world and its rulers, but man carries within himself the image and likeness of God. From Christ onwards, an army of men and women will restore to the world, the flesh and the devil what belongs to them, while handing themselves over to God to live according to the truth of heaven. What belongs to God? The life and heart of man, his love, his relationships and many other things. The world demands these things only to abuse and exploit them. Woe to us if we give the world what belongs properly to God, if we instrumentalise the faith in the interests of wellbeing or power. In every Christian act, we free ourselves from the world to give back to the Father what is his: ourselves.

“In the Stars the Glory of His Eyes – Tales from an Irish Tour Guide in Rome”

FROM IGNATIUS PRESS

Tales of unexpected blessings, hilarious true stories, unique perspectives on the lives of the saints. An original, entertaining and orthodox presentation of the Catholic faith. You won’t be able to put it down!

"Captivating."

— Elizabeth Lev, Professor of Art History, Rome.

“Entertaining.”

— Cardinal Seán Brady, Ireland.

"I laughed out loud many times, and told the stories to others who laughed just as hard."

— Sally Read, Author.

"Enchanting."

— Bishop Brendan Leahy, Diocese of Limerick.

"Unique and insightful."

— Archbishop Kieran O'Reilly, Cashel and Emly.

 October 11th 2026. The Twenty-eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL: Matthew 22, 1-14

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini broadcast on Vatican Radio

  

Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel

 

GOSPEL: Matthew 22, 1-14

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a feast for his son’s wedding. He sent his servants to call those who had been invited, but they would not come. Next he sent some more servants. “Tell those who have been invited” he said “that I have my banquet all prepared, my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, everything is ready. Come to the wedding.” But they were not interested: one went off to his farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his servants, maltreated them and killed them. The king was furious. He despatched his troops, destroyed those murderers and burnt their town. Then he said to his servants, “The wedding is ready; but as those who were invited proved to be unworthy, go to the crossroads in the town and invite everyone you can find to the wedding”.

So these servants went out on to the roads and collected together everyone they could find, bad and good alike; and the wedding hall was filled with guests. When the king came in to look at the guests he noticed one man who was not wearing a wedding garment, and said to him, “How did you get in here, my friend, without a wedding garment?” And the man was silent. Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot and throw him out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth”. For many are called, but few are chosen.

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ

 

1. There are many surprising elements in this parable: the fact that people refuse to come to the banquet and kill those who invite them; the harsh response of the king; the public humiliation of the one who does not have the correct garment. What is it all about?

The first reading for this Sunday is from the 25th chapter of Isaiah, which speaks of an invitation to a banquet, a feast of rich foods. This banquet is contrasted with a veil that covers the faces of all people, and it talks about wiping away tears and removing the disgrace from the people. This contrast may seem a bit unusual, but gives us the key to understanding the Gospel. In the Gospel, we have an invitation to a feast that is poorly received: the king throws a wedding feast for his son, but the invited guests do not want to attend. This is surprising because why would someone refuse a wedding invitation? They are refusing an invitation to a great banquet. In the text, it is recounted that these invited guests have their own interests, their businesses, and they insult and even kill those who invite them. Then the master sends out his servants to gather anyone they find, both good and bad, which is a way of saying that there is no selection of guests, all are welcome. And then, someone enters without the wedding garment and is cast out and publicly humiliated because they did not wear the wedding garment. Well, on a basic level, it seems very strange that someone would refuse a wedding invitation, let alone kill the messenger who invites them. What is happening here?

 

2. The refusal to wear the wedding garment is a metaphor for our rejection of grace.

There is also a reference to the book of Judges, which tells the story of Samson's marriage. We learn that, at that time, the wedding garment wasn't exactly a piece of clothing but an additional covering. In today's terms, it's like receiving a badge to signify participation in the celebration. So, it's not about a poor person being picked up from the roadside and rejected because they're dressed poorly. Rather, they didn't put on the tunic or the cloak that was characteristic of that wedding celebration. We can understand through this detail that there is an offering here, where the king gives and bestows gifts. And this offering is rejected. This might be a state of our relationship with God. One of the essential tragedies of human life is the rejection of grace. In the end, even in theology, we know that the condition of damnation is the conscious rejection of a gift. Grace, always remember this word, is related to the word "gratis." Grace, precisely, means a gift. Grace is never imposed but always offered by God because you can't impose a gift. It wouldn't be a gift at that point; it would be something else. Our relationship with God, this parable suggests, often involves rejecting this gift. Why would we ever do such a thing? We are facing an attitude that seems paradoxical, absurd, and unacceptable to us. How can people reject something so beautiful that is given to them? An invitation to a wedding, a state of celebration. There is a veil to be pulled back, as the first reading says, there is shame to remove, to be loved unconditionally by God. It's something that, due to a deep condition of non-acceptance, doubt, and lack of trust, we don't accept. Being the object of a gift isn't easy. Being the object of a gift requires accepting that we have nothing to give in return, simply being invited to come.

 

3. Pride impels us to reciprocate the gifts of another, so that we are on their level.

We prefer to be on the same level as those who give us things. After all, we don't believe we can be loved unconditionally. Humans carry in their hearts a trauma, an unhappiness, the disappointment of love experienced a thousand times. It's embarrassing to be loved. Peter will say, at the moment when Jesus wants to wash his feet: "You will never wash my feet," because he knows Jesus, they love each other, they have intimacy between them. It’s as simple as the fact that it’s tough to receive. Pride forces us to reciprocate, to be on a level where we are better than our deeds. We have our deeds and receiving a garment, entering the wedding and completely abandoning the dress of our resistance, the dress of our suspicion, is very difficult. In people, the spirit of sadness is so strong, the spirit of suspicion is so strong, the spirit of not opening up to the celebration, it can even become violence. In the end, everyone needs to be loved in an almost scandalous, embarrassing way, to let themselves be loved. It's very difficult to stand before God and feel the object of His tenderness. It's something we don't know how to do. This Sunday is an invitation to enter the celebration and discard the garment of sadness, the veil. We need to give up that world of doubt, suspicion, and antipathy we feel toward everything that is given to us with simplicity. God is love; he doesn’t demand anything. This is something we must open ourselves to deeply, and it's something we struggle to accept. This is why Jesus Christ said that sinners have an easier time entering the kingdom of heaven than the righteous. Because the righteous are too occupied with their own righteousness, while sinners surrender to the love and mercy of God.

“In the Stars the Glory of His Eyes – Tales from an Irish Tour Guide in Rome”

FROM IGNATIUS PRESS

Tales of unexpected blessings, hilarious true stories, unique perspectives on the lives of the saints. An original, entertaining and orthodox presentation of the Catholic faith. You won’t be able to put it down!

"Captivating."

— Elizabeth Lev, Professor of Art History, Rome.

“Entertaining.”

— Cardinal Seán Brady, Ireland.

"I laughed out loud many times, and told the stories to others who laughed just as hard."

— Sally Read, Author.

"Enchanting."

— Bishop Brendan Leahy, Diocese of Limerick.

"Unique and insightful."

— Archbishop Kieran O'Reilly, Cashel and Emly.