The Wedding Garment of Greatest Joy - Saint John's Seminary

The Wedding Garment of Greatest Joy - Saint John's Seminary The Wedding Garment of Greatest Joy October 10, 2026 The guest thrown out of the wedding feast was not ejected for a social faux pas or minor infraction of dress code. God is not petty. The expulsion of the unfortunate guest signifies something more serious. The unsuitably attired guest of today’s gospel is found to be without charity in his heart. This is not just an oversight. It’s a tragedy because charity (God’s love) has been poured out superabundantly for all. For the wedding guest to be empty of divine love means he somehow refused it or lost it along the way. This is not easily done, given the insistence and eagerness of the king that people come to the wedding feast of his son. The king said to him, 'My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?' But he was reduced to silence. Then the king said to his attendants, 'Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.' Many are invited, but few are chosen." It’s clear that in the parable, God the Father is the king who throws a wedding feast for Christ His Son, the Divine Bridegroom. The wedding garment expected of every guest is Christ Himself: “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ,” Saint Paul tells us (Rom 13:14). As the king (God the Father) greets the guests, He seeks only one thing: the wedding garment. That wedding garment is the image of His Son in every guest. The wedding garment is divine love embodied in us. Image: Parable of the Wedding Feast, Andrey Mironov, 2014. Wikimedia The guest without a wedding garment appears to have distanced himself from that love. Worse, he has no interest in the relationship being healed. The wedding feast would be torturous for him. Why did he come? He seems to belong more to the people who refused to come in the first place. The king’s decision to have him thrown out ratifies the decision already made by the unfortunate man. Note how the guest had nothing to say when asked how he got in. He was “speechless” (Matt 22:12). He could have murmured an explanation or an excuse or an apology: he didn’t. Even better, he could have said: “I know your son.” He didn’t. It’s a reminder to us that something is expected of us. Some response to Jesus Christ is expected. God’s grace is gratuitous and utterly free, but this does not cheapen the gift. It cost Jesus, the Divine Bridegroom, every drop of His blood. The man without a wedding garment cheapened the gift. Everything about him in the parable conveys the message: “I don’t care what you have done for me.” This is not about wearing poor or simple clothes to the wedding feast. Not at all! The poor, the humble, and those who make themselves like little children are the greatest in the kingdom of God and have the highest place at the wedding feast. They are clothed in Jesus Christ. The issue is not poverty or simplicity of garb. Rather, it’s the failure to care—to care about God the Father; to care about His Son, the Divine Bridegroom; and to care about those we meet who are in the image of that Son—the Son who longs to be honored in them. At every Mass, Jesus the Divine Bridegroom is shown to the faithful as the priest raises the Host saying: “Behold the Lamb of God . . . blessed those called to the Supper of the Lamb.” This is the appeal the Father makes to come to the Wedding Feast. The Father seeks only that we be clothed with Christ. He seeks in us the image of the Son He loves. Moreover, He gives us that image, imprinting it on our very being through Baptism. To be “in Christ” is to be clothed in a glorious wedding garment and given the vocation to love in Christ. To alienate ourselves from Him is to carry a hollow darkness around within ourselves, ending with the weeping and grinding of teeth that signify regret. Jesus tells the parable because He wants us at the Wedding Feast, not alienated from Him. He echoes the Father’s invitation: “Come to the Wedding Feast!” The Father gives us all we need for our wedding garments to glisten with Christ’s own glory. With the king in the parable, the Church longs for you to return to Mass, the Wedding Feast of God’s Son. And please come back to Confession, which restores the baptismal robe of Christ’s love, making our faces shine with the light of His glory. In these holy sacraments, the Father delights in us. In living out these sacraments, we return to the Father what is His: we give Him ourselves, ourselves in Christ His Son. The Father recognizes Christ His Son in our personalities, in our lives, in our love. Our vocation is nothing less than Christ’s love: “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ!” That’s the wedding garment of greatest joy.