God's Wedding Banquet

by Fr. Jess Ty  |  10/11/2026  |  Weekly Reflection

Dear Family of God,

What are the requirements to become a member of God’s kingdom?

The Kingdom of God is compared to a Wedding Banquet prepared by a king for his only beloved Son. Jesus is the Bridegroom and the whole Church, or we the People, are the Bride.

God has prepared everything. All we have to do is to say, “yes” to his invitation and enjoy the food, the party and the host. But many of us are attached to what we are doing and so we don’t want to be bothered; so, we beat or kill the messengers. We think that the invitation is not essential, not necessary, we can let it pass or maybe say “next time.” This attitude of the invited guests not accepting the invitation, is comparable to us choosing sin over God’s offer of an intimate relationship with Him. We choose a false understanding of freedom and refuse to let ourselves be loved and feted by our loving Father.

By our Baptism we are all invited to an intimate relationship with God, but we can lose or reject this invitation by choosing to sin, or by choosing to cooperate with murder or wicked deeds. We fulfil our Baptismal Vow by doing good and avoiding evil, or by being in a state of grace, the Sanctifying Grace. This Sanctifying Grace is symbolized in the parable as the ever necessary “wedding garment” which enables us to partake the Wedding Feast in heaven. “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” (Gals. 3:27). This Sanctifying Grace is the presence of God in our soul which can be lost when we choose to commit mortal sin and can be restored to us by receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It is only with Sanctifying Grace that we can truly love God and love our neighbor. Charity is possible because God, the Holy Spirit, has been poured out into our hearts during baptism. We have to guard this communion with God by avoiding mortal sin and coming to confession at the soonest possible occasion when the need arises.

May Our Lady of Joy help us all say “yes” to God’s invitation and do our part to remain in God’s Household.

Yours in Christ through Mary Immaculate.