Dining experiences have undergone a vast change since biblical times. Living as nomadic people on barren terrain in a brutal climate made it difficult to provide the simplest of meals. The idea of a sumptuous free banquet was appealing to everyone and was recognized as a sign of God’s continual presence in their lives. To 21st Century Christians however, the idea of a banquet has much less appeal. Banquet symbolism, while appealing and relevant to our ancient brothers and sisters, has retained little importance for many of us today.
In our fast-paced world, food, even a banquet of extravagant foods, has little attraction for many of us. We don’t go hungry. We eat when and what we want, and often jam meals into our busy schedules. Drive-through food, home delivered food, and restaurant food are all part of our eating routine. Sadly, we tend to eat food, not as part of a family meal, but as a daily necessity. Table talk, and family connections are put aside as families schedule mealtimes as interruptions in their daily schedules. For many of us, eating has become nothing more than a detour amid daily travels.
Dual careers, busy schedules, and long commutes have helped create a communal meal as a happy accident rather than a planned experience. Most of us still permit interruptions to our daily routines by planning special meals to celebrate occasions such as birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries that put an occasional dent in our busy lives. Tragically, what was once a family tradition of shared love, guidance, and nourishment around the dinner table, has faded from the American scene.
What has also disappeared is the essential tie between being nurtured at the family table and being spiritually fed at the Eucharistic Table. If our eating habits are characterized by our visits to a variety of fast-food establishments, how will we ever take the time to be physically and spiritually nurtured at the communal celebration of the Eucharist? If we regard the sharing of a family meal as a time-consuming chore assigned to a few special occurrences, will we be able to recognize and value the divine invitation to come to the feast? That may be why we find it challenging to understand why so many of us have had few banquet experiences?
Dorothy Day, the leader of the Catholic Worker movement, lived most of her adult life among the poor. Her funeral Mass was attended by priests and nuns, but also by bag ladies, addicts, beggars, the homeless and all those other poor in whom she saw the face of God. That gathering and those gathered at the feast in today’s Gospel were a diverse group called together by God and graced with the gifts and ability to care for one another. Entrance into that banquet required whole-hearted acceptance of the invitation---nothing else!
All are welcome at the Eucharistic feast, but showing up is not sufficient. Recall the warning from today’s Gospel: “But when the king came in to meet the guests, he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment. …’My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?’” Proper attire consists of living our faith in response to God’s calls. We are called to pause and withdraw ourselves from the routine burdens of daily life to simply be in God’s presence. Then, using the strength gathered at each Eucharistic meal, we assume our responsibility to touch the lives of all God’s people. Let us resolve to come to the feast of heaven and earth—to the Table of plenty, eager to be lavished by the food provided by our God who insists on inviting us to his Table.
----Deacon Wilson Shierk