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| “St. Mary Crowned” (detail) from The Ghent Altarpiece by Jan van Eyck, 1432 |
Reading 1: Judges 11:29-39a
The Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah.
He passed through Gilead and Manasseh,
and through Mizpah-Gilead as well,
and from there he went on to the Ammonites.
Jephthah made a vow to the LORD.
“If you deliver the Ammonites into my power,” he said,
“whoever comes out of the doors of my house
to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites
shall belong to the LORD.
I shall offer him up as a burnt offering.”
Jephthah then went on to the Ammonites to fight against them,
and the LORD delivered them into his power,
so that he inflicted a severe defeat on them,
from Aroer to the approach of Minnith (twenty cities in all)
and as far as Abel-keramim.
Thus were the Ammonites brought into subjection
by the children of Israel
When Jephthah returned to his house in Mizpah,
it was his daughter who came forth,
playing the tambourines and dancing.
She was an only child: he had neither son nor daughter besides her.
When he saw her, he rent his garments and said,
“Alas, daughter, you have struck me down
and brought calamity upon me.
For I have made a vow to the LORD and I cannot retract.”
She replied, “Father, you have made a vow to the LORD.
Do with me as you have vowed,
because the LORD has wrought vengeance for you
on your enemies the Ammonites.”
Then she said to her father, “Let me have this favor.
Spare me for two months, that I may go off down the mountains
to mourn my virginity with my companions.”
“Go,” he replied, and sent her away for two months.
So she departed with her companions
and mourned her virginity on the mountains.
At the end of the two months she returned to her father,
who did to her as he had vowed.
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Commentary on Jgs 11:29-39a
This selection takes up the story of Jephthah who was a chieftain with a sullied past. Brought back from self-imposed exile where he formed a gang and raided neighboring communities, he was put in charge of the Israelite’s defense against the Ammonites. We join him at the outset where he clearly believes he has vowed to perform human sacrifice, a tradition of his pagan neighbors (see also 2 Kings 3:27).
Perhaps because of this pagan vow, we see him punished as his only child, a young daughter, becomes the object of this sacrifice. Because bearing children is seen as the “greatest pride; to be childless was regarded as a great misfortune. Hence Jephthah's daughter asks permission to mourn the fact that she will be put to death before she can bear children.” [4] At her death the entire line of Jephthah ends.
"The episode certainly is disconcerting, but it may be that the author (writing at a time when no one was in any doubt about human sacrifice being an abomination) chose to respect the traditions that had come down, cruel and harsh though they were, in order to convey a lesson about the sacredness of vows and promises. Vows are such holy things that they should always be kept. But, for that very reason, they should not be made rashly." [5]
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 40:5, 7-8a, 8b-9, 10
R. (8a and 9a) Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
Blessed the man who makes the LORD his trust;
who turns not to idolatry
or to those who stray after falsehood.
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
Sacrifice or oblation you wished not,
but ears open to obedience you gave me.
Burnt offerings or sin-offerings you sought not;
then said I, “Behold I come.”
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
“In the written scroll it is prescribed for me.
To do your will, O my God, is my delight,
and your law is within my heart!”
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
I announced your justice in the vast assembly;
I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
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Commentary on Ps 40:5, 7-8a, 8b-9, 10
This selection of Psalm 40 has a teaching or didactic note as we hear the implied criticism of any who had not turned from false wisdom of pagans, idolatry and sacrifices. God’s harsh justice will be celebrated.
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Gospel: Matthew 22:1-14
Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and the elders of the people in parables
saying, “The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who gave a wedding feast for his son.
He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast,
but they refused to come.
A second time he sent other servants, saying,
‘Tell those invited: “Behold, I have prepared my banquet,
my calves and fattened cattle are killed,
and everything is ready; come to the feast.”’
Some ignored the invitation and went away,
one to his farm, another to his business.
The rest laid hold of his servants,
mistreated them, and killed them.
The king was enraged and sent his troops,
destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.
Then the king said to his servants, ‘The feast is ready,
but those who were invited were not worthy to come.
Go out, therefore, into the main roads
and invite to the feast whomever you find.’
The servants went out into the streets
and gathered all they found, bad and good alike,
and the hall was filled with guests.
But when the king came in to meet the guests
he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment.
He 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.”
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Commentary on Mt 22:1-14
St. Matthew’s Gospel presents us with the parable of the King's Wedding Feast. The first servants sent to invite the guests were the prophets, rejected or misunderstood by the Jewish leadership. The second servants sent represent Christ himself, who here predicts his own death at the hands of the people he was sent to invite.
In the second section, we see that the feast that was prepared for God’s chosen people, the Hebrew nation who were first invited, is left unattended. Therefore, God’s mercy is extended to all people of all nations. There is a warning at the end. Those not clothed in Christ who attempt to enter by deception will be punished severely. This caution can be seen in two connotations. First, those not properly disposed to participate in the wedding feast, recreated in the eucharistic sacrifice, commit a serious sin. It also can be seen as the rationale for purgatory, since the process of purification dresses the faithful for the eternal banquet in heaven.
CCC: Mt 22:1-14 546, 796
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Reflection:
The part of the parable of the Wedding Feast we always seem to avoid thinking about is that short phrase toward the end, in verses 11-14. It is the part about the king coming to the one who was not “dressed in a wedding garment.” This whole part seems, at least on the surface, to contradict the main thrust of the story.
The king (whom we know to be the Heavenly King – God) invites the Hebrews (the chosen people) to the wedding feast (the Kingdom of Heaven as stated at the beginning of the parable). This invitation is issued by Jesus himself whom most of the Hebrews reject. They cannot come to believe that Jesus is the Anointed One, the Christ, the Messiah who comes, bringing salvation promised by the Law of Moses and the prophets. They (the Hebrews) reject the wedding invitation so the king instructs his servants (the Apostles and their successors) to go out into the world and invite all peoples of all nations. This part of the parable is crystal clear.
Then we come to the wedding banquet and the king discovers this person who is not dressed for the occasion. What does this refer to? The proper garment, looking at the literal situation, would be a clean white garment. That was the traditional attire for a wedding in the day. Flowing from this allegory, there are several conclusions we can draw about what a wedding garment should be in this heavenly wedding feast.
The clean white garment is a symbol used in baptism and remembered in ordinations. It is the efficacious sign that sins have been forgiven and the one so attired has been freed from the poison of sin. It is a state of absolute purity achieved only through sacramental grace. That indelible change in character facilitates later sacramental intervention in reconciliation. We are sent to the cleaners, so to speak and our grace is restored. The garment is clean once more. We trust that as we finally pass from this life to the next, we will have also received our final anointing. The last rites of our faith have the effect of cleaning that garment one last time so that upon entering that great hall we are appropriately dressed.
Still there is something more that needs to be done. As clean as our outer garment is, our soul must be spotless as well if we are to come before our Lord and God. This perfection takes a special time (we use the word time only because our language cannot describe that transitory state outside of our understanding required to achieve spiritual perfection). We call this state purgatory, a time of purification. When we come before the Lord, we must be completely transformed and perhaps that is part of St. Matthew’s understanding of the parable as well.
Today we contemplate that wedding feast and our joy to be called to such rejoicing. We pray that our own attire may be found appropriate and our place assured. We pledge ourselves to the task of coming to that place of joy by following all the Lord has asked of us – in essence, accepting his invitation.
Pax
[1] S.S Commemoratio
[2] The picture is “St. Mary Crowned” (detail) from The Ghent Altarpiece by Jan van Eyck, 1432.
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] See NAB footnote on Judges 11:37.
[5] The Navarre Bible: “Joshua-Kings”, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003, pp. 155-56.
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