PHOTO: Mary van Balen The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son… Then he sent some more servants and said, Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet. Mt 22, 1-2;4
“I’m too frazzled!” my older sister, Jan, said as she walked back into the front door of her home a minute after having left. “I’m looking for my phone. Have you seen it? I’ll call my self. If you hear it ring, bring it out to the car. I’ll go out as see if I have it somewhere in my purse.”
She disappeared through the door again. I heard no ring, walked to the front door, looked out, and saw her giving me a thumbs up. I walked back to the kitchen, hung up the phone and smiled as I looked at the cake and supplies waiting in the family room for pick up.
My sister’s youngest of five children (and only daughter) had been married in Texas two months ago. Today Jan and Howard are having a reception for the new couple in their hometown for family and friends who were unable to make the trip to Texas.
No wonder Jan was feeling frazzled. Despite a troublesome back and a full schedule helping with grandchildren, involvement in an outreach to the poor in a crowded urban city, and various commitments to her church community, Jan had managed to bake her wonderful carrot cake into a large, three tiered wedding cake.
She and Howard left to cart other paraphernalia to the reception site: pop, wine, plates and flatware, decorations, signs for the guest book and a pile of glow necklaces and sticks (always thinking of things to keep the young children happy and occupied), tea, coffee….the list seems endless.
Other family members are pitching in too, chauffeuring the couple from the airport to homes, helping transport children, as well as supplies, and setting up in the party room. A sister and brother are on their way from a neighboring state, gathering to celebrate another wedding.
We may no longer slaughter our fattened cattle and oxen (well, the Texas couple may when their turn to celebrate a son or daughter’s wedding comes around), but putting together the wedding banquet is a major undertaking. Months in the planning, countless late nights, errands, and “frazzled” moments, money spent, and homemade touches witness to the deep love and joy my sister and her husband take in their daughter, her new husband, and their commitment to married life together.
This gives us a glimpse into infinite love and joy God takes in each of us. The Holy One gives all to preparing the “banquet” for us. And there is more. Not only are we invited to share in Divine Life, we have been invited to help prepare the “banquet” for all God’s people. We have been called to continue the work Jesus began on earth, to bring the Kingdom.
Weddings are a grace not only for the newly married couple, but also for those celebrating with them. The gathering of family and friends remind us that whether in our love for one another or in our commitment to bringing the Kingdom for all, we do not labor alone. We have the support of other and the Spirit who dwells in each heart.
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