How clean is my wedding garment? Did I remember to drop the tux or ball gown off and pick it up at the drycleaners this week? Or last week? More critically, do I even have a wedding garment?

To understand better today’s gospel reading from St. Matthew it’s important to know how weddings were conducted back then: when one was invited, one was given the appropriate garment at the door. The appropriate attire was a gift from, in the case of the parable, the king who sent the invitation. The man without the wedding garment in the parable could have put on his wedding garment but he rejected the king’s gift and snuck in anyway, dressed inappropriately. Was this man no better than those who ignored the invitation? Those that made light of the invitation? Who are those men in the parable who killed the king’s servants?

We all must have a pretty good idea of who is the king in Christ’s parable, who is his son, what the wedding feast represents, but who were the servants who were murdered by those who refused the invitation to the Kingdom of Heaven? Could they represent Christ’s apostles who called others to come to the wedding banquet after the Savior’s Glorious Resurrection? And then were murdered, becoming martyrs for the faith.

Here’s some context to help our understanding. St. Matthew tells us that Jesus told today’s parable in Jerusalem after His triumphant entrance with palms and hosannas, and just before His Passion. Our Lord told a similar parable according to St. Luke on His way to Jerusalem. That parable about a “great supper” is read on the 30th Sunday after Pentecost, this year that falls on Sunday December 27. You may remember the parable from last year, especially memorable is the man who said he recently bought five oxen and couldn’t come to the supper because he had to “test them.” Some excuse. The man who snuck into the wedding feast but refused to put on the gifted garment was speechless. I was jarred when I read the word “speechless;” all I could think of was Michaelangelo’s fresco in the Sistine Chapel of the Last Judgment.

[Parenthetically, of course that Renaissance artist was named after our own patron saint.]

That speechless man was not only thrown out, but bound hand and foot and given the heave ho from the wedding banquet. There he sits in Michaelangelo’s fresco, on his way down. That man was called, but not chosen, because he rejected the gift of the garment of salvation, and therefore couldn’t stay in the Kingdom, but was ejected with those weeping and gnashing their teeth.

In His ministry on earth, not only was Our Lord’s first miracle recorded at a marriage feast, the one at Cana that we hear about at the sacrament of Orthodox marriage when He turned the water into wine, but Christ employed the analogy of the marriage feast many times in his ministry. From His parable of the 10 virgins who took their lamps to meet the Bridegroom to the Bridegroom Matins of Holy Week when we hear:
Thy bridal chamber I see adorned O my Savior but I have no wedding garment that I may enter; O Giver of Light; enlighten the vesture of my soul and save me.

Brothers and Sisters, the Orthodox sacrament of marriage is vitally important; it represents the joining of man and woman who will not just spend their lives together, but are tasked with helping each other toward salvation. Toward the ultimate wedding feast. The Bridegroom Christ and His Bride, our Holy Orthodox Church.

So once again we are confronted with the questions regarding our own wedding garments. One is especially critical: what exactly is the garment and how do we keep it. St. Gregory the Great, the Pope of Rome who is also known as Gregory the Dialogist (the author of the Presanctified Gifts Liturgy) had great insight that he passed on in a sermon of the late sixth century that is valuable for us here today: “But since you have already come into the house of the marriage feast, our Holy Church, as a result of God’s generosity, be careful my friends, lest when the king enters he find fault with some aspect of your heart’s clothing…What do we think is meant by the wedding garment, dearly beloved? For is we say it is baptism or faith, is there anyone who has entered this marriage feast without them? A person is outside because he has not yet come to believe. What then must we understand by the wedding garment but love? A person who enters the marriage feast, but without wearing a wedding garment, who is present in the Church, and has faith, but does not have love.”

Brothers and sisters, we are all here, so we are all at the feast. We can ask ourselves if each of us are wearing the right garment? And has our own tie and tails or evening dress been properly cleaned each week? Did we drop them off and pick them up this week at the ultimate cleaner, at the sacrament of confession?

Fr. Gregory

What a joyful day we shared at our Parish Picnic! Thank you to everyone who came together for food, fun, and fellowship.

On July 19, our community gathered at Camp Fellowship in Marlton, NJ, to celebrate Divine Liturgy under God's sky at 9:30 AM. Worshiping together in the beauty of nature set a wonderful tone for the rest of the day.

Following the Liturgy, parishioners enjoyed a fantastic picnic by the lake. This day would not have been possible without the hard work of our dedicated helpers. We send a massive thank you to all the volunteers who stepped up to help. Thank you for making this year's picnic an unforgettable success!

Click here to watch a video of the day. 

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