Heavenly Banquet 天国盛宴
God invites everyone to the joy of the heavenly banquet. All He requires is a sincere response and a willingness for the guest to put on the wedding garment of charity. We invite you to read Fr. Joseph Ruan's latest bilingual Scripture reflection, available below in Chinese and then in English:
Scripture Reflection in Chinese
常年期第二十八主日甲年
今天是常年期第二十八主日。今天的读经以盛宴讲述天主的救恩，也提醒我们真心回应天主的召叫。福音中，耶稣以国王为儿子摆设婚宴的比喻，表明天主愿意邀请万民分享他的生命。天主诚心邀请，人也要真心接受恩宠，悔改更新，才能分享天国的福乐。
耶稣说：“天国好比一个国王，为儿子摆设婚宴”（玛22:2）。婚宴是分享喜乐的场合，主人预备丰盛的食物，邀请宾客欢聚一堂。在这个比喻中，国王代表天父，儿子代表耶稣。天父派遣圣子来到世上，耶稣藉着苦难、死亡和复活，为人打开通向永生的道路。婚宴所表达的，就是天主愿意人通过基督，分享祂救恩的喜乐。
国王派仆人去邀请宾客，客人却不愿意来。他又派另一批仆人，告诉他们：“一切都齐备了。请来参加婚宴吧！”然而，有人不理睬，去耕田；有人去做生意；还有人凌辱并杀死仆人（玛22:3-6）。国王一再派人邀请，表示出他的诚意；宾客的冷漠和暴行，则表明他们对邀请的拒绝。耶稣讲这个比喻时，面对的是司祭长和民间长老（玛22:1）。这些话表明了他们面对天主召叫时的态度：天主曾派遣先知，劝人听从他、归向他，却有人拒绝接受先知，甚至迫害他们；如今，天主的圣子亲自来到，这些领袖仍然拒绝接受他。
国王震怒，派军队惩罚凶手，焚烧他们的城市（玛22:7）。这段严厉的情节，表明拒绝接受天主、迫害天主派遣的先知，会带来严重的后果。耶稣借此提醒人们，天主的召叫需要人郑重回应。国王随后吩咐仆人：“你们到各路口去，凡是你们遇到的人，都请来参加婚宴。”仆人便把所遇到的，无论坏人好人，都召集了来，婚宴上坐满了客人（玛22:9-10）。这句话充满仁慈与希望：天主邀请罪人，给人悔改、获得赦免和重新开始的机会。人能够来到天主面前，首先是因为天主主动的召叫，愿意赐给人救恩。
国王进入婚宴，看见一个人没有穿婚宴礼服，就问他：“朋友，你没有穿婚宴礼服，怎么就到这里来呢？”那人默默无语，最终被绑住手脚，丢到外面的黑暗中（玛22:11-13）。在故事中，“外面的黑暗”就是婚宴所在的厅堂之外、没有宴席灯光的黑暗地方。那个人被赶出去，不能再与宾客一起分享婚宴的喜乐。“哀号和切齿”描写他痛苦、懊悔的处境。在耶稣所讲的天国比喻中，这个情节也提醒人们：最终被排除在天国的喜乐之外，是何等严重的损失。
前面说坏人好人都受到邀请，后面又要求穿上礼服，这两部分应当连在一起理解：天主愿意接纳罪人，也愿意使罪人悔改更新。邀请向所有人敞开，接受邀请的人也要作出相称的回应。在教会的传统理解中，婚宴礼服常代表爱德，就是爱天主、爱人的心。人领受天主的恩宠，就应当让恩宠改变自己的心，活出新的生命。
圣保禄说，受洗归于基督的人已经“穿上了基督”（迦3:27）。“穿上基督”，就是属于耶稣，接受他的教导，靠着他的恩宠，学习他的爱。婚宴礼服的意义也可以由此理解：进入婚宴的人，要以更新的生命回应国王的邀请。天主召叫人来到他面前，赐给人赦罪的恩宠，也召叫人离开罪恶，活出爱德。
耶稣最后说：“被召请的人多，被选上的人少”（玛22:14）。“被召请”，就是受到邀请；“被选上”，就是最后获准留下，分享宴席。比喻中，有人受到邀请却拒绝前来，也有人虽然来了，却没有穿上婚宴礼服。因此，受到邀请，并不表示最后一定能分享婚宴。耶稣以这句话提醒我们：天主召叫人进入天国，人也要真心接受，悔改更新，活出爱德。这句话没有给出得救人数的比例，而是提醒听众认真回应天主的恩宠。
第一篇读经中，依撒意亚先知说，万军的上主要为万民摆设盛宴，预备丰美的食物和上等的陈酒（依25:6）。这与福音中“凡是你们遇到的人，都请来”的邀请相呼应，表明天主愿意万民分享他的救恩。先知还说，天主要掀去遮住万民的“丧帕”和掩盖各国的“殓布”，并且“永远消除死亡”（依25:7-8）。“丧帕”是带有丧事、哀悼意味的遮盖之布，用来表达死亡所带来的悲伤；“殓布”则是覆盖或包裹死者身体的布。在这段圣言中，先知用这些布作比喻，表明死亡和悲伤好像一层沉重的遮盖，笼罩着全人类。天主许诺掀去这层遮盖，就是许诺战胜死亡，赐给人永远的生命。
天主还要“从每个人的脸上拭去眼泪”（依25:8）。这句话十分亲切，就像母亲看见孩子哭了，替他擦掉眼泪。天主知道人的痛苦，也愿意亲自安慰人。这个许诺在耶稣基督的复活中开始实现，并将在救恩圆满时完全实现：死亡被消除，眼泪被拭去，人永远生活在天主的爱内。因此，人们欢呼：“这是我们所期待的拯救我们的天主”（依25:9）。天国的盛宴所带来的，正是这份永不消逝的生命与喜乐。
第二篇读经中，圣保禄说：“我仰赖加强我力量的那一位，任何事都能做”（斐4:13）。他所说的“任何事”，是指无论饱足或饥饿、富裕或贫乏，都能靠着基督的扶持，继续忠于天主（斐4:12）。顺境也好，逆境也好，基督都是他的力量。保禄也感谢斐理伯信友分担他的困苦，并相信天主会在基督耶稣内满足他们的需要（斐4:14、19）。这里既有对天主的信赖，也有信友之间具体的关怀，让我们看见爱德如何结出果实。召叫人的救主，也扶持人回应；赐给人恩宠的天主，也帮助人活出新的生命。
今天，让我们怀着感恩来到耶稣面前，求耶稣以自己的圣体圣血养育我们，使我们真心接受天父的邀请，悔改更新，穿上爱德的礼服。愿我们在各种境遇中，都能靠着基督的力量忠于天主，直到有一天，与诸圣一起，在天国的盛宴中分享永远的福乐。阿们。
Scripture Reflection in English
Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
Today is the Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Today’s readings describe God’s salvation through the image of a feast and call us to respond sincerely to his invitation. In the Gospel, Jesus tells the parable of a king who prepares a wedding feast for his son. This story expresses God’s desire to invite all peoples to share his life. God extends his invitation with love, and we are called to receive his grace, repent, and live a renewed life so that we may share the joy of his kingdom.
Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to “a king who gave a wedding feast for his son” (Mt 22:2). A wedding banquet is an occasion of shared joy: the host prepares a generous meal and welcomes guests to celebrate together. In this parable, the king represents God the Father, and the son represents Jesus. The Father sends his Son into the world, and through his suffering, death, and resurrection, Jesus opens the way to eternal life. The wedding feast expresses God’s desire that we enter into communion with him through Christ and share the joy of salvation.
The king sends servants to invite the guests, but they refuse to come. He sends other servants to tell them that everything is ready. Some ignore the invitation and return to their farms or businesses; others mistreat and kill the servants (Mt 22:3-6). The king’s repeated invitation expresses his sincerity, while the guests’ indifference and violence demonstrate their rejection of that invitation. Jesus addresses this parable to the chief priests and elders (Mt 22:1). His words describe their response to God’s call. God had sent prophets to call his people back to him, but some refused to accept those prophets and even persecuted them. Now God’s Son stands before these leaders, and they still refuse to accept him.
The king becomes enraged and sends troops to punish the murderers and burn their city (Mt 22:7). This severe episode expresses the serious consequences of refusing to accept God and persecuting the prophets he sends. Jesus reminds his audience to take God’s call seriously. The king then sends his servants to the main roads to invite whomever they find. They gather everyone, “bad and good alike,” and the wedding hall fills with guests (Mt 22:9-10). These words offer mercy and hope. God also invites sinners, giving them the opportunity to repent, receive forgiveness, and begin again. Our coming into God’s presence begins with his initiative: he calls us and desires to give us salvation.
When the king enters the wedding hall, he finds a guest without a wedding garment and asks how he came in without one. The man has no answer. His hands and feet are bound, and he is cast into the darkness outside (Mt 22:11-13). Within the story, “the darkness outside” means the dark place beyond the wedding hall, away from the light of the celebration. The man is expelled and can no longer share the guests’ joy. “Wailing and grinding of teeth” describes his suffering and anguish. Within Jesus’ parable of the kingdom, this scene also warns of the profound loss of being excluded from the joy of heaven.
The invitation to both bad and good, and the requirement of a wedding garment, belong together. God welcomes sinners and calls them to repentance and a renewed life. The invitation is open to everyone, and those who accept it are called to respond in a fitting way. In the Church’s traditional understanding, the wedding garment often represents charity: love of God and love of neighbor. Those who receive God’s grace are called to let that grace transform their hearts and shape a new way of life.
Saint Paul writes that those baptized into Christ have “clothed yourselves with Christ” (Gal 3:27). Belonging to Jesus means receiving his teaching and, through his grace, learning to love as he loves. These words also help us understand the wedding garment: those who enter the feast are called to respond to the king’s invitation with a renewed life. God calls people into his presence and offers forgiveness, while also calling them to turn away from sin and live in charity.
Jesus concludes: “Many are invited, but few are chosen” (Mt 22:14). Being invited means being called to the banquet; being chosen means finally being accepted to remain and share the feast. Some guests refuse to come, while another enters without a wedding garment. Thus, receiving an invitation does not automatically mean sharing the banquet to the end. Jesus calls us to accept God’s invitation sincerely, repent, and live in charity. His words do not provide a numerical estimate of how many will be saved. They remind his audience to respond seriously to God’s grace.
In the first reading, Isaiah announces that the LORD of hosts will provide a feast of rich food and choice wines “for all peoples” (Is 25:6). This echoes the Gospel’s invitation to everyone the servants encounter and expresses God’s desire that all peoples share his salvation. Isaiah also says that God will destroy the veil covering all peoples and the web woven over all nations, and that he will “destroy death forever” (Is 25:7-8). A veil is a covering, while a web is something woven and spread across a surface. Here, these images portray death and sorrow as a heavy covering spread over humanity. God promises to remove that covering, overcome death, and give his people lasting life.
God will also wipe away “the tears from every face” (Is 25:8). This is a tender image, like a mother gently wiping away the tears of a crying child. God knows human suffering and promises his consolation. This promise begins to be fulfilled in the resurrection of Jesus and will reach its fullness when God’s saving work is complete: death will be overcome, tears will be wiped away, and his people will live forever in his love. They therefore rejoice: “Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us!” (Is 25:9). The heavenly banquet brings this enduring gift of life and joy.
In the second reading, Saint Paul says, “I can do all things in him who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13). His meaning is given by the preceding verse: whether well fed or hungry, living in abundance or in need, he can remain faithful through the strength Christ gives him (Phil 4:12). Christ sustains him in both favorable and difficult circumstances. Paul also thanks the Philippians for sharing in his distress and trusts that God will supply their needs in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:14, 19). Here, confidence in God is joined to practical care for another person. We see charity bearing fruit. The Savior who calls us also strengthens us to respond; the God who gives us grace helps us live a renewed life.
Today, let us come before Jesus with gratitude and ask him to nourish us with his Body and Blood, so that we may sincerely accept the Father’s invitation, repent, and put on the garment of charity. May the strength Christ gives us help us remain faithful to God in every circumstance, until we join the saints at the heavenly banquet and share its everlasting joy.
Fr. (Joseph) Guozhang Ruan was born and ordained in China. After serving in parish ministry in the Diocese of Mindong, Fujian, he pursued advanced studies in moral theology in Rome, earning a doctorate from the Pontifical Lateran University. Since coming to the United States in 2004, he has served in several parishes in the Archdiocese of New York. He is currently the Director of the Chinese Apostolate for the Archdiocese of New York and Parochial Vicar of Holy Rosary Church on Staten Island. His ministry focuses on serving Chinese Catholics, promoting evangelization, and fostering greater understanding between the Church in China and the universal Church.
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