He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come.
Mary was raised and formed in the temple. Her faithful upbringing and time spent there
cultivated in her a preparedness for her vocation. Our Heavenly Father worked, in all his
majesty, from the beginning of time, to make Mary the tabernacle of the Word Made Flesh! By
the grace of God working in her, she graciously received Gabriel’s greeting and kneaded
(labored) the actual Divine Manna sent from heaven to reign for all the world. From this first
encounter with Mary at the Annunciation, she was obedient to God. She responded to the
King’s invitation by the works of the servant Gabriel unlike the guests in the parable.
I will put my spirit within you and make you live by my statutes, careful to observe my decrees.
Reflect
We can reflect on Jesus at the Cross giving Mary to John the Beloved. She was entrusted by Our
Lord to be the mother for all, not just John. That responsibility was very tangible to the apostles
and early Church. Before her death and entrance into heaven, we can consider that she was
held in high regard and honor following the crucifixion of her Son. If we consider her honor,
with anticipation of her queenship, she led the first apostles, and the apostles lead her. With
such honor, I can only imagine her in the role of “Mother Superior” and Christ’s apostles as
priests providing everything she needed. They imitated the bridegroom (a virtuous man providing and protecting) and she continuously was a tabernacle of Divine Grace (the virtuous
woman-nurturing and consoling). In post-resurrection, she might have carried about her a
special grace of honor and royalty because she was filled and united with the Spirit. In the time
of the early church, she was queen of the apostles, mothering and nurturing them, being a
source of the Spirit in the midst, before she even made it to the heavenly throne.
He saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment. He said to him, ‘My friend, how is it that
you came in here without a wedding garment?’
Marriage
With the lasting and pervasive work of Our Lady, and the apostles, many people have found
conversion and union, or so to say “marriage,” with the Catholic Church. The apostles went out
to baptize the world. Their work performed an invisible, indelible, and irreplaceable sanctifying
mark on the souls of thousands! All the while, Mary resided in Ephesus, as “Mother Superior”
and “queen,” praying for the conversion of the world and participation of the Sacrifice of the
wedding feast of the Lamb. The catch is, they had to be prepared for the marriage feast as
mentioned in the parable. Mary as the source of grace, as the apostles worked in the vineyard
to administer sanctify grace. They did the work of preaching and sacramentally preparing
people to enter into communion at the wedding feast. To connect it more with the parable, the
first guests had rejected the invitation out of ignorance. In contrast, the poorly dressed man
had not properly prepared himself for such a significant occasion like the wedding feast. For
whatever reason, he was not prepared despite being among the welcomed street guests. He
was not chosen to enter into the banquet. Maybe this can serve as a reminder to us that we
never know when the “hour” of the Lord might come.
Devotion
May the numerous feasts of Our Lady create in you an honorary devotion of her that points
towards Christ, the true bridegroom. As she was a source of grace to the apostles, call upon her
now for the graces that you need in order to do God’s will and to carry out your vocation. As she
nurtured and prepared the apostles, open your heart to her and allow her to prepare you for
the joy that abounds from the throne in Heaven. Join me in reciting a Memorare or Hail Holy
Queen today! Queen of Heaven, Queen of Apostles, and Queen of our heart, pray for us!
Lizzie
This certainly is deep and pause for reflection
Your devotion to the sacred heart as well as Mary is beyond reproach
I am so proud to be included in your sharing