The Gospel reveals to us that Jesus knew what it takes to be a generous host (for example, Lk 14:7-24). He recognized with what thought and care good hosts invite their guests, and with what solicitude they go about preparing the feast and thinking how each guest would share in it. Jesus even had a sense for the different, good and bad, motivations people have in hosting a lunch or a dinner: friendship, kinship, status, money, or even great charity.
How is it that Jesus knew so much about how to host a dinner party? Growing up in the humble home of Nazareth he would have seen great kindness and generosity, but Mary and Joseph were working class, not the sort of people who could afford big, extravagant celebrations. Then, in his years of preaching, he had no place to rest his head (Lk 9:58), much less the room and resources to put on a dinner for many relatives and friends. But often he speaks with authority about hosting great feasts. How does he know?
Jesus knows because he is God-made-man, the Host of the heavenly feast. As God, he feasts eternally in the Trinitarian communion with his Father and their Spirit. Then, by the Incarnation, the Father sent him to invite us to the festal gathering where angels and saints rejoice in God. To call us to this banquet, he became our guest and took the lowest place. He lived among the poor and humbled himself unto death, death on a cross (Phil 2:8). And there, on the Cross, the Son of God espoused his Church by shedding his Blood. Because of this, God raised Jesus from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is now seated at the place of honor, at the right hand of the Father. There, Jesus is the glorious Bridegroom, the Host of his heavenly wedding feast. He prepares places for all the guests he is expecting, for those who receive his invitation gratefully and who humbly allow him to show them to his table. This banquet in heaven, the wedding feast of Jesus, the Lamb of God, has already begun. Mary, the angels, and the saints are there. But, what about us? Are we invited?
Yes, Jesus invited us too. He did so even though we are poor in virtue, crippled and lame by sin, and often blind to truth. He invited us out of sheer generosity, not looking for repayment, for he is infinitely rich. By the mysteries of his Incarnation, death, and Resurrection he attained for us God’s healing grace. In Baptism we receive this grace and are marked forever as members of his Bride, the Church, and as invited guests of heaven. All our life he pours out his gifts on us, to help us on the way. The greatest of these gifts is the sacrament we celebrate in Holy Mass. By the words of consecration, bread and wine really do become Jesus. And from the sacred host, this same Jesus calls each of us saying, “My friend, come receive me as your guest, that I may guide you to that place in heaven meant just for you. Come and eat my life-giving Body, strength for your journey. Then you will come and enjoy my wedding feast forever.”
✠
Image: Nikolaos Gyzis, Behold the Celestial Bridegroom Cometh
