神父的話                

天國好比婚宴：『看，我已經預備好了我的盛宴，一切都齊備了，你們來赴婚宴吧！』

這個比喻顯示了三類賓客。有的起初接受了邀請但最後卻缺席；有些沒有穿婚宴禮服的人應邀卻沒有任何準備；然後有些準備妥當，穿婚宴禮服的賓客來赴國王的盛宴。

最可怕的，是缺席者不是罪人。他們去了做合理而非罪惡的活動。一個去了耕田，一個去了做自己的生意。這些都是必要和有用的工作。有時候限制我們遠離天國的喜樂不是罪過而是在對生活需要的關注上。對工作專注是好事，但當我們的工作令我們無法參加天主的盛宴時，它就變成了障礙。

關於那個沒有穿婚宴禮服的人，是否因為他沒有時間回家換禮服並不是這個比喻的要點。這個比喻的重點是：如果你要去跳舞，你必需穿上跳舞鞋。如果你要去參加婚宴，你必需穿上婚宴禮服。要是沒有穿上禮服，即使肉身在派對內，他的思想和精神卻不在。事實上，完全不參加反而比去了又彷彿沒去更好。天主的國是慷慨地給予我們的。我們那些正在前往天國的人必要在道德和心靈上取得跟在天國內生活一致的特質。

聖言會 Munachi E. Ezeogu神父

The Kingdom of God is liken to a wedding banquet: "Behold, I have prepared my banquet, and everything is ready; come to the feast."

The parable shows us three possible kinds of guests. There are the absentee guests who initially accept the invitation, but when the time comes they draw back. There are the guests without wedding garments who attend the feast but do not take the trouble to prepare adequately for it. And then there are the guests with wedding garments who make the necessary preparation to present themselves fit for the king's banquet.

The scary thing about the absentee guests is that they are not sinners. They are generally engaged in legitimate, not sinful activity. One goes to his farm, another to his business. These are necessary and useful occupations. Sometimes what keep us away from the joy of the kingdom is not sin but preoccupation with the necessities of life. To be serious with our job is a good thing, but when our job keeps us away from attending the Lord's Supper, then it has become an obstacle.

On the guest without the wedding garment, to speculate on whether he had enough time to go home and put on his wedding garment is beside the point of the parable. The point of the parable is: if you must go to the dance, you must wear your dancing shoes. If you must go to a wedding, you must wear your wedding garment. By not wearing a wedding garment, he was physically in the party, but his mind and spirit were not there. In fact, it is better not to attend at all than to be there and yet not there. The kingdom of God is freely offered to us. Those of us on the way to the kingdom must spare no effort in acquiring the moral and spiritual character that is consonant with life in the kingdom.

Fr Munachi E. Ezeogu