Offered the wedding garment

The themes of Covenant and choice are strong in the texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary. The people who witnessed the fate of the Israelites who were exiled to Babylon found it easy to profane Yahweh who seemed powerless to help the Jewish tribes. Friar Jude Winkler reminds us that the Israelites were in Covenant with God. The nature of this special relationship is one of blessings and curses which differentiates the experience of those faithful to the Covenant and those who break the Covenant. The Prophet Ezekiel declares that God will act to restore the people to Him, for His own sake, by a transformation through which they will acquire hearts of flesh. Friar Jude reminds us that this language refers to a deeper knowledge of God than we might associate with the “emotional heart” today. The “heart knowledge” to Ezekiel’s audience encompasses our whole being including reason and action. It is the state of love which the greatest commandment (Deuteronomy 6:4) establishes.  Gus Lloyd reflects that the heart of stone means he often has little empathy or sympathy for those who don’t think like he does, act like he wants them to or believe like he thinks they should believe. He has little use for those who hurt him or disagree with him. The Gospel from Matthew tells of the decision of those invited to the wedding relationship of knowledge of God through Jesus Christ to reject Him. Reimar Schultz interprets the the terrible consequence of this decision to include the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD which occurred prior to the writing of this Gospel. The decision of the man not to wear the wedding garment which has the consequence of his being thrown from the wedding feast, is understood by Friar Jude and Reimar Schultz to be in the context that the king would provide the appropriate dress for the guests at the door of the banquet. Barbara Dilly relates her witness of the grace of God to a faithful and nourishing community of Presbyterians in the Iowa community where she grew up. The attitude of humility and contrite hearts praised by the psalmist today bears fruit in our knowledge of God through our hearts of flesh and our ability to say yes when we are offered the wedding garment.