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.’
Universalism -- the idea that God loves and saves every human being, regardless of their actions or worth -- finds little support in the scriptures. It's based on vague ideas of what a good God should do, rather than the God who reveals himself to us through the Old and New Testaments. That God makes no effort to fit anyone's philosophical notions. Those who would know such a God must be prepared to leave their ideas at the cathedral door as they step into the silence.
The parable reflects both the eager welcome and the savage treatment the Lord met in Jerusalem, and the mixed reception his disciples were given as they departed the Holy City to tell the world what they had seen and heard. Many people were delighted with the Gospel, and readily embraced this new approach to the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Others could not be bothered.
Those who were rightfully expected to recognize and welcome the Lord's Anointed were often the least receptive. When the Christian message became too attractive to too many people, they reacted with violence. Saint Luke's sequel, the Acts of the Apostle, recalls that baptism of fire in more detail. Patristic documents picked up where the New Testament left off, and tell us of the violent persecution which continued sporadically during "the Age of Martyrs."
That "age" lasted about three centuries, but if the persecutions ever stopped, they have resumed in this and the last century. Ideologues hate the truth. It is too mysterious and demands too much humble honesty.
In my time, since the opening of the Second Vatican Council, I have seen the rise and fall of liberalism. I asked a historian one time, Father Camillus Gott, if there had ever been a liberal reform of the Church. "Never." he replied.
A reformation must return to the sources and historical traditions of the Church. While it incorporates and adapts to new ways of thinking, it intends to restore discipline, asceticism, piety, and focused intensity among God's people. It does not abide half-measures. It must especially restore the memory of who we are and have always been. We and our fathers have sinned. But a reform also opens doors of intimacy with the saints and martyrs who have kept the faith in every age and every country. Liberalism is too enamored with itself, its ideas, and its presumptive future to pay close attention to the past. It listens only to those skewed stories that reflect its preset beliefs; and admires only those saints who have a passing similarity to their heroic ideals. But, when it must retreat, it can be vicious. I have seen that too.
As we hear the invitation to come to the Lord's wedding banquet, we prepare with acts of penance, reparation, generosity, and prayer. We consider ourselves worthy only because the Lord has decreed it; but we are, without hesitation, grateful.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.