Celebration and life

The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary leave us with questions about the twist which surprises us at the end of the passages from the Book of Judges and the Gospel of Matthew. The account of some Jewish scholars concerning Jephthah is that he is not a hero to be emulated but a man who used violent action to achieve the power to rule the tribes of Israel in their ongoing struggle with their neighbours including the Ammonites. He is categorized as one who made a bad and illegal vow concerning sacrifice of his unnamed daughter. Some authorities indicate that his own pride was all that prevented him from being freed from this vow by the religious authorities.Friar Jude Winkler notes that child sacrifice was practiced by the Israelites up to the time of the Babylonian exile, though the Prophets condemned it based on the sparing of Isaac at the hands of Abraham. Another point of view concerning this sacrifice is expressed in a lamentation about the place of woman andchildren in the Torah tradition and how important that the etiology of a Jewish commemoration of virgin life (and death) be linked to this episode from Judges. The surprise in the parable from the Gospel of Matthew that the King should toss the man without a wedding garment from the wedding banquet, which is the symbol of the Kingdom of Heaven, after inviting the outcasts and marginalized to be with the King and Son in celebration of life and communion. Friar Jude notes that this man was particularly resistant to accept the hospitality and the invitation to communion because the wedding garment was usually provided for the guests at the door. We can find stubbornness in both these surprising texts. Jephthah was king and could not admit his rash foolishness. The rejected wedding guest need to hold onto his way when offered the Way to peace in the Kingdom. Our ego, pride, and stubbornness need to be noted and questioned as they keep us from the celebration of Life.