Wedding party

Brothers and sisters!

Do you feel happy and happy during the liturgy? Are you looking forward to being invited by the bells to the temple and you can participate in the liturgy? In today’s Gospel the word is repeated: invitation and vocation. The very word of invitations says that in St. The liturgy should not go out of compulsion or habit, but should feel like being invited to the best celebration. We should go to the Holy Liturgy as those who are looking forward to the celebration – not as someone who is not interested in celebrating and would rather be somewhere else. All who attend liturgical celebrations should understand that the invitation to the liturgy is a kind of promotion for us.

In today’s text, we have heard that even the Lord Himself has begun to speak out one after another. So let’s not be surprised that even in our times there is a man who may not say directly: “I bought the field, I have to go and look at it”, but rather:. As if nothing has changed – even today we often prefer material things.

The invitation we heard today was addressed to everyone – good and bad. We Christians quite often know how to box people when we say – this is good and this is bad. How do we judge that? Unfortunately, often by your own rating. Yes, even dishonest people are part of the Church, even sinners and weak, but fortunately the Church is not a “community of perfect”. It is not a company of perfect. We are only a community of sinners, aware of their failures. Longing for forgiveness. We are a fellowship that has accepted an invitation to a wedding reception to which Christ has invited us. He is perfect – he is holy and loving. It is a pity that we do not always follow in the footsteps of our Founder, and we, like the man of the Gospel, lack a festive wedding gown, although it was “automatically” attached to each invitation. I cannot be content with just being a Christian and belonging to the church or being baptized. The last decision about who is good and worthy will be told by God and not by us who often judge by our own standards.

So there is a serious demand: a wedding dress. Not to have a formal dress in the countries of the Orient meant a noticeable violation of habit. Something like a contempt for a host that was tantamount to ignoring his invitation or refusing because the wedding robe was part of the invitation. We, as members of the Church, also receive a serious warning: The vocation we have received requires us to live harmonizing with this vocation. Have you been baptized? Then he also lives as a baptized child and do not shame God on earth! Were you repointed – confirmed? Then behave like an adult Christian. Figuratively speaking, before God, one cannot stand in the clothes of his own righteousness. Those who dare to appear before God in their righteousness resemble a hockey player who would like to play in a great brand suit and the latest paints and not in the necessary sports equipment.

A person in a brand suit and new paint can look more elegant than a player in hockey jerseys and skates, but he would not succeed in the match, he would not have the least chance. Equally, it is not God who wants to rely on the garment of his own righteousness, but only he who puts on and carries the righteousness of Christ. Well, what are those clothes? What is the garment we are talking about today? It’s a new being. It is a new life with new values. I will use a quote from st. Paul: For all who are baptized in Christ have put on Christ. (Gal 3: 27). So we have accepted His ways, His teachings, His thinking. A guest who did not find such a “robe” was a man who, despite being a member of the church, closed himself before all the “new” ones. He did not receive God’s Way, but persisted in his own righteousness and piety.

I remember one question the child asked his father: Where is God? – Father said – is where you invite Him – where you let Him. In today’s Gospel – “the invitation to the wedding” God invites us – He wants us to come to the wedding. It is about letting Him into our lives. – That is, to let Him into our interior and obey Him. The point is not only to be a member of the Church, but to live according to Christ.

Brothers and sisters, do you feel happy and happy in the liturgies? This is how I started my speech today. We have to answer this question alone. But first we have to answer – do I come here from duty or coercion? Or as an invitation to look forward to the celebration? Amen.