ALL SAINTS MARGARET STREET

Twentieth Sunday after Trinity, 2005

Fr Ivan Aquilina

"Friend how did you get here without the wedding garment?"
What is this wedding garment? Do we need one?
"Many are called but few are chosen."

All are called through Baptism but to be chosen we need the wedding garment. Baptism is not an automatic ticket for heaven. The context of this parable is the key to its understanding. The context is a wedding. For Jesus and those around him a wedding was not just a joyful occasion in which two people make a contract of love and so one rejoices with them and for them. It meant much more. A Jewish wedding lasted seven days and was the occasion of great merriment. The period of seven days is significant as it shows that the wedding feast is the microcosm of creation, of the whole relationship between the Creator and creation. This was voiced by Hosea when he equates the bride and groom as symbols of the love of Yahweh towards Israel. In the New Testament this concept is further perfected in the light of the new and eternal covenant and the wedding feast is shown not only as a living symbol of the love that Christ has towards his Church but also as a symbol of fulfilment: the Messianic time.

Therefore, the wedding garment that we need must be tightly linked to the theme of love between God and His people, of Jesus and his Church and the fulfilment of creation in the end of time. Those who wear this garment are those who participate in the loving life of the Blessed Trinity and who while firmly grounded in this passing time live already in the timeless kingdom of God that kingdom of mercy, justice and peace.

We are called to live this holy and godly life and therefore need to put on the wedding garment. How do we weave such a garment? Our answer comes from the first and second readings. Before all else we need a life based on the praise of God, in the words of Isaiah: "I will praise thy name, for thou hast done wonderful things..." Praising God is not simply done by words or actions. The praise of God springs from the deep realisation of the greatness and goodness and love of God and of our nothingness in comparison with His greatness. When we see how much he has lowered Himself to be near us we realise His magnitude and generosity and the only thing left for us is just to praise Him as we can do nothing to repay His love.

This genuine praise of God provides us with what we need for our wedding garment. Lost as we are in praise of our Loving God we deepen our relationship with Him. This relationship protects us in time of trial and temptation. Embraced and protected by God this tiny plant can flourish and our life with God starts its mysterious journey.

The hidden and basic reality of this life with God is awareness from our side that He does the calling; if we listen and co-operate than real life starts: a life of unending praise, of intimacy, of victory over sin and death and all forms of evil, a life of joy, above all a life of joy. Joy is essential for our wedding garment. It stands to reason that a wedding implies joy, but the joy we mention is one that is not necessarily complimented by and found in laughter, but a silent joy that warms our hearts in the knowledge of the presence of God. It is the Joy of the Presence of God like the cloud of old that enveloped the Holy of Holies. The Presence of God in His people wherever they are. This Joy cements our relationship with God and therefore sustains a further gift that God has given us, the gift of Faith. The Joy of His Presence enables us to stand firm in the Lord as Paul says in our second reading. Faith and Joy generate Hope. With God with us and certain of His love all the tribulations of life will not cause us anxiety. Not that we are to be immune from the emotions that events cause in us but by Faith even in the eye of the storm we find His Presence: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for thou art with me..."

Finally this Hope based on Joy and Faith leads to Peace: the Peace of our hearts and minds as they rest on the Lord Jesus and His promise of fulfilment. Just like the seamless garment of Christ is our wedding garment. It is the garment of Praise, of Protection, of Intimacy with God, of Victory, of Joy, of Faith and Hope and Peace. It is the garment of godly living, the garment of working out in our daily lives the promises we made on the day of our Baptism. It is the garment which makes the Glory of Mount Tabor a reality in our every day life. It is the garment of holiness in the small and large things of ever day life.