The Parable of the Wedding Banquet in Matthew's gospel is a challenge for us in that it's hard to see how it applies to us at all, especially in light of how much Matthew adds to the story as compared with how Luke describes it in his gospel. However, after cutting through the extra stuff that makes Matthew's version unique, we are able to see how this parable encourages us to get back to how Jesus began his ministry by saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
NOTE: The sharp-eyed among you will see that my stole is not the purple colour normally associated with Lent. I would like to say that I've chosen a mottled pink stole to go with the tradition of Laetare Sunday in the season of Lent, but that's next week, not today. All that happened is that I left my purple stole at home and so had to use the reverse side of my Pride stole so that I had a colour that approached purple. I blame it on the loss of an hour's sleep because of Daylight Savings Time . . .
