2020 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time Rev. James L. Nadeau Homily
Only the faithful have reserved seats!
We are baptized members of the church; be we may tend to equate baptism with final salvation.
We are mature Catholics through Confirmation and the Eucharist, but we may stunt our growth through lack of generosity.
We promise to be faithful to other people in marriage, jobs, life, and so on, yet we may act as if the promise without performance assures lasting union with God.
Only the faithful have reserved seats!
Our 1st reading underlines the reality of reserved seats at the Lord’s banquet.
The author presumes the people’s faithfulness – The God to whom they looked for salvation has indeed proved to be a God of Salvation.
Here the faithful have acquired reserved seats.
In the 2nd reading, Paul continues to be faithful from the time of his conversion.
Life is a question of coping: tribulation, imprisonment . . .
For Paul, the Damascus Road experience has to be relived each day, for Paul believes only the faithful have reserved seats.
In the Gospel, Matthew labors to point out that enjoying the final banquet with Jesus requires an ongoing effort.
The call must be lived on a daily basis.
To disregard the implications of the call is to be improperly dressed for the wedding and thus to be rejected forever.
The invitation to the Christian message is only the beginning.
Only ongoing fidelity assures final election.
In Matthew’s community, only the faithful have reserved seats.
Stepping now from Sacred Scripture to our daily lives . . . the challenge is to remain faithful