28TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME HOMILY YEAR A 2026
WELCOME TO THE FEAST, BUT COME PREPARED, WITH THE RIGHT ATTITUDE
Mt 22.1-14 Is 25.6-10 Phil 4.12-14,19-20
Another week flies by, and Nobel prizes awarded for Literature, Chemistry and Peace. There’s always going to be someone disappointed, and this time it’s me! The Chemistry award has gone to a 93 and 76 year old researchers, who achieved synthesis of asymmetric biologically active molecules, by a similar method to what I was trying, at Monash Uni in 1976, 50 years ago, for my Honours project, trying to make asymmetric amino acids (starting with potassium cyanide)! Needless to say, I didn’t quite achieve the desired outcome, but thought I could’ve at least got a mention in the citation!! (My supervising professor suggested earlier, I should aim at the Templeton Prize, awarded for linking science and religion (the how and the why), on which I had based my theology synthesis in 1978, as he said it was more prestigious!!)
Where to from here, after the parable of the wicked tenants and absentee landlord? Yet another parable about an ultimate affirmative response, this time to a generous invitation from a generous host, welcoming a variety of different people, to a celebration of life, with a wedding at the centre. No excuses are given for the knockbacks, when the first invitation goes out, but the second time there seem to be a few not unreasonable excuses, with work on the farm required and business having to go on. One can’t escape the demands of real life activities, but provision can be made.
The puzzle comes when there is a group who not only decline the invitation, but attack and mistreat the messengers and even kill them. Life might have been cheap back then, but their reaction seems a bit over the top! Then again, let’s remember that this is a parable, not to be taken too literally.
Whatever, the main point is that they’ve had their chance, but end up losing it. The lack of appreciation for the generosity of the king in the first place, is one of the issues, but then there is also the failure to look beyond their own interests at home. This is a broad invitation, but with no thought of the benefits of being part of the bigger picture, by attending the party. They’ve had their chance and blown it, so to speak.
Therefore, the broader, open invitation goes out to all and sundry, the riff raff at the centre of the town gathering places. No doubt, most would jump at the prospect of a free feed, but there are strings attached on arrival! While it sounds more than a bit unfair for the poor chap caught without the wedding garment, it shouldn’t be taken literally.
The lack of a wedding garment is more a symbol of a willingness for a sinner to repent and convert from the old selfish and sinful ways, to personal renewal and resolution to do better, and gratefully appreciate the hospitality and opportunity given to enjoy the party, but also to go away changed, with a fresh perspective on life, and a determination to change one’s ways for the long term future.
As for the person of the king, Brendan Byrne SJ reminds us: “We should be wary of allowing our hearers to identify the king in the parable with God or to see his violent and vengeful behaviour as the way God acts. As in all his parables, Jesus simply takes illustrations from life as it is, neither commending or deploring the behaviour involved but simply using the way people (including kings) behave to illustrate what he wants to convey.”
Brendan Byrne SJ puts it this way: “As noted already, this final episode has to do with the problem of good and bad in the Christian community. You don’t have to be good to get into the community of the Kingdom: God’s invitation is a great net of grace that envelops all. But, once within, people have to allow themselves to be transformed by the grace they have received; their subsequent good works will constitute the ‘wedding garment’ required for the banquet.”
That being said, the image of a great banquet with good food and fine wines sounds most appealing, as prefigured in the reading from Isaiah today, sometimes used at funerals. The portrayal of the Kingdom of heaven as a feast around God’s table is somewhat appealing, as we struggle in trying to describe or understand life in eternity, so we look for simple metaphors. Jesus is quite at home with that.
Meanwhile, the religious leaders of his day once again are the targets for his critique of those who fail to listen and so be changed by his proclamations. As scripture scholar Raymond Brown SS says of the three parables in a row we’ve heard the last 3 weekends (the no then yes and yes but then no sons, the bad tenants, the invitees to the wedding): “Thus, in none of these parables is it simply a question of the replacement of Israel by the church, or Jews by Gentiles; the issue for Matthew is the replacement of the unworthy in Judaism (especially the leaders) by a community of Jews and Gentiles who have come to believe in Jesus and have worthily responded to his demands for the kingdom.” As we know, many of the leaders don’t like his threatening the status quo of their own self-importance and self-righteousness.
Finally I conclude with a further reflection from Pope Leo XIV, given the current concerns about the dangers of AI (artificial, not super intelligence) running out of human control: “Intelligence must draw on memory. The mind must not simply compile data — as an algorithm now does more quickly than we can — but recall lived experiences, which contain depths of meaning that only the human soul can recognize, and connect more deeply with the goodness of these experiences. Everything that is good begins ‘with the Spirit’ and thus possesses a breath, a dynamism and a sense of communion that, once experienced, are engraved upon the heart.” Here is a common sense description of the human and faith dimensions, which must be considered as an integral part of it all.
We don’t need to be self-righteous and self-important, to appreciate the unique importance of the human spirit and our responsibility to continue to build God’s kingdom of love, peace and justice, here and now. This is the Good News of the Gospel!
And now for our parish census, which we please ask you all to complete, in order to update parish records.
john hannon 11th October 2026