Our Gospel today continues right after the Gospels of the past couple of weeks in which Jesus was using the parables to call the Pharisees and elders of the Jewish faith out of their stubborn pride, and so naturally they were feeling on edge and defensive. And instead of humbling themselves, in our Gospel the Pharisees try to denounce Jesus by lessening the influence he was having. Although at first they compliment Jesus in his teachings, they were really looking for a way to trap Jesus and discredit his teaching, and thus turn a group of people away from following him. The Pharisees brought the Herodians to Jesus to try and trap him in what he would say.
READ MOREFor several weeks now, our Gospels from Matthew have been a series of parables by Jesus directed primarily to the chief priests and elders of the Israelites. Perhaps you can recall the parables of past several weeks had to do with a vineyard- servants who were paid equally to work in the vineyard, 2 sons who were asked to work in their father’s vineyard, and a vineyard that produced wild grapes. These stories are most certainly meant to go right to the heart of the Jewish leaders who saw themselves as sons of God working in God’s vineyard, and so these chief priests and elders should be first to believe in Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah, but who instead remain stubborn in their unbelief. But although directed to the elders, these parables are also written to teach us, who let’s face it, don’t always make Jesus the center and Lord of every aspect of our lives. Today Jesus continues the parables, but instead of a vineyard, today our story centers around a wedding banquet.
READ MOREOur 1st reading and Gospel remind us of a very important point that is good for us to understand. Sometimes life doesn't go as planned. Throughout life there are going to be good times and bad times, most likely many of you can testify to the difficulty in your life right now. Our 2nd reading though teaches how to have peace throughout the anxieties life brings us.
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