Fr Marco Lazzaron
nd Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so” (Mk 15:2).
The Eucharist is the wedding feast of the Lamb; is the wedding feast of Jesus as king. However, normally, at the wedding of a king, only royals, aristocrats, and, indeed, only a few would be invited. Yet, at this special banquet, everyone is invited: men, women, adults, children, more grown-ups, good, bad, rich, poor, of any nation and race, healthy, sick, clever, unlearned, etc.
We are all invited to this banquet. The priest at Mass, in fact, says: ‘Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb’. We should all be happy and blessed because we are all invited to this magnificent banquet which Isaiah speaks about in the first reading: On this mountain, the Lord of hosts will prepare for all peoples, a banquet of rich food, a banquet of fine wines, of food rich and juicy, of fine strained wines (Is 25:6).
The Gospel speaks also of the wedding garment we should wear, and that is the white garment that was given to all of us baptized. However, with time passing, that garment might have got stained or dirty, and maybe we don’t feel it right to put it on for a wedding. Well, the Lord, comes to wash our sins away with his blood, and like bleach can make that garment white again.
An invitation, though, that requires an answer: do you want to take part in this banquet or not?