In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus presents the parable of the wedding banquet as a metaphor for the Kingdom of Heaven.
The invited guests show no interest in attending the king’s banquet, so the servants are sent out to gather whoever they find on the streets – but only those wearing wedding garments.
«For many are called, but few are chosen» (Mt 22:14).
Let us now consider how the Poverello lived out all this, according to the accounts in the Sources.
Enamoured of Lady Poverty, Francis of Assisi earnestly invited her to take a meal with the friars [cf. Sacrum Commercium Beati Francisci cum Domina Paupertate]:
“Then they led her to the place where the table had been set. When she arrived, she looked around and, seeing nothing but three or four loaves of barley and bran bread placed on the grass, was filled with great wonder” (FF 2020).
She then “ordered them all to gather together and addressed them with words of life, saying:
«May you be blessed, my sons, by the Lord God who created heaven and earth, for you have welcomed me into your home with such an abundance of charity that, being with you today, it has seemed to me as though I were in the Lord’s paradise […]
This is what I have sought so long; now I behold it […] for on earth I have been united with men who are for me a faithful image of Him who is my spouse in heaven.
May the Lord bless your courage and be pleased with the work of your hands»” (FF 2024).
Called and chosen in the company of Lady Poverty, to follow in the footsteps of the Son of God.
Clare herself, in her Spiritual Testament—a true Franciscan gem—addresses her present and future daughters, inviting them to guard the priceless treasure of their calling. We read in it:
«Among the other blessings we have received and continue to receive daily from our Giver, the Father of Mercies, for which we are deeply obliged to offer Him glorious and living thanksgiving, great is the blessing of our vocation. And the greater and more perfect it is, the more deeply we are bound to Him. Therefore, the Apostle admonishes: ‘Know well your vocation’» (FF 2823).
And again:
«The Son of God has become our Way; and this was shown and taught to us by word and example by our blessed father Francis, a true lover and imitator of Him» (FF 2824).
At this point, Clare recalls when the Saint, under divine inspiration, prophesied concerning them.
“Having climbed onto the wall of that church […] he addressed some poor people who were standing nearby:
«Come and help me with this work at the monastery of St Damian, for soon women will come to live there, and through the fame of the holiness of their lives, glory will be given to our heavenly Father throughout his holy Church».
We may, therefore, admire in this event the great goodness of God towards us: He deigned, in His overflowing mercy and charity, to inspire such words in His Saint concerning our vocation and election» (FF 2827–2828).
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (year A) (Mt 22:1–14)
