28th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A 2026

Jesus criticised the leaders in last Sunday’s Gospel. This weekend the spotlight lands on the topic of salvation, what value does it have and the range. The Gospel uses the marriage feast as a metaphor to showcase God’s invitation which according to the 1st Reading is extended to everyone. God will prepare a banquet for His people. God will provide abundantly and the scope of the invitation reveals His mercy and benevolence.

There is a twist in the Gospel. Those invited persistently rejected Christ’s invitation. We can presume that Jesus meant to infer that the religious leaders were those who rejected God’s initiatives. To underscore the gravity of the situation, God’s seeming violent reaction reveals how serious the loss of salvation is for those who are obstinate in their rejection.

Talking about reactions, in 2011, on the 1st Sunday of Advent, the new translation of the Mass for the English-speaking world came into effect. Well, there were similar reactions to the new translation of the text. One important alteration which caused a stir was in the Institution Narrative where a minor alteration was made. At the consecration of the wine in the chalice, the words were changed from “which will be poured out for you and for all” to “which will be poured out for you and for many”. From “all” to “many”. If the reactions were not violent, there are still priests who have refused to comply because you can still hear “for all”.

The reason for the change was simple. It was a return to a more accurate and faithful translation of the original biblical texts. The change would make us all be in tandem with the more ancient liturgies of the Eastern Churches. Moreover, “Pro multis” in Latin and “Pollon” in Greek, which is translated as “for many”, were found in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. Yet some have felt that the change seemed to have short-changed Christ’s salvation. Did He not die for all?

There is a slight theological distinction. Ontologically, Christ died for all. He offered salvation to each and everyone. In other words, He was not choosy. It makes a lot of sense that the mission of Christ is not provincial or parochial. He is the Saviour of all mankind and not just Christians. Thus, the scope of God’s salvation is extensive. It covers everyone but effectively, this salvation is received only by the “many” meaning that not everyone will be saved. Hard as this may be to digest, this is not a form of exclusivity. Just like the Gospel today, some chose to go to the farm. Some decided to engage in business. In fact, some were even harmful to the messengers. Salvation is offered to all and it is a testament to God’s great benevolence but He does not force upon us His salvation. Like the famous quotation, attributed to Saint Augustine and found in the Catechism, which says, “God created us without us; but He did not will to save us without us”.

Since God who created us without our permission cannot save us without our consent, that means, we are free to accept or reject His salvation. Creation and salvation are two different realities. We have no say in creation but we have a big part to play in our salvation. Who is to say that salvation is cheap? Much like those cheap free gifts given away at trade-conventions that visitors accept but later throw away. In fact, the acceptance of God’s salvation comes with a price.

We value our freedom. We do. In fact, we guard our autonomy so jealously that the idea of God creating us without our permission is rather jarring and also somewhat irritating to hear. In fact, if my life were “crap”, I would rail against God. “Why the hell did you create me for?”. This not only shows how entitled we have become but that we are enamoured by our freedom. But more than that, it also reveals a certain hubris with regard to God’s way of proceeding.

I remembered an experience during my youth that a relative committed suicide. He was buried outside the cemetery as a sign that the person had made an irrevocable decision to reject God in his life. Notwithstanding that our understanding of human psychology has progressed and that there may have been mitigating reasons for a person’s less than “composed mental” state, the present practice seems to state that our decisions are never totally free. And that God is not in any way bothered by our decision. And we in a way project onto God, that He has no choice but to save us all which is rather ironic given that we are so jealous of our “freedom”.

We do have the freedom to reject God and God respects that. And there have been cases where someone made a decision and then at the funeral, just for those alive to “feel” good, priests are required to perform some rituals and pray for the soul of the deceased as if nothing of his or her decision mattered at all. The range of God’s redemption may be extensive but there is a value to being saved because freedom has consequences.

After those invited rejected God’s initiatives, many others were invited. But those who came had to follow protocols. As we read about that individual guest who attended but did not dress up for the occasion. He was thrown out. God’s salvation requires that we change or be transformed.

The value of salvation is that it is not free or not cheap. The good thing is that according to St Paul in the 2nd Reading, Christ is there. We can change because He is the strength and the grace which gives us an ability to respond to a higher calling. We are graced by our baptism to live a life in Christ our Lord. The Wedding Garment is therefore the call to our conversion and a call to a life of holiness. Holiness is to be in Christ, to be like Christ, to be Christ in the world