Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Congratulations with the feast of the resurrection of the Lord, as well as the memory of St. Job of Pochaev!

Today during the Divine Liturgy we heard the third and final parable delivered by our Saviour Jesus Christ to the Jews in the Temple in Jerusalem before His crucifixion. In it, as in last week’s parable, we read how the Lord endeavoured to convince the Jews that He is their long-awaited Messiah.

Let’s remember the plot of this parable. A certain King (God the Father) arranged a marriage feast for His Son (God the Son, Jesus Christ), and invited, through His servants (the Old Testament prophets), His subjects (the Jews), but they did not wish to attend and ignored the servants. Despite this, the wedding was held, the ox was butchered (Jesus Christ, the living sacrifice, had already died on the Cross and risen from the dead), and once again the King sent his servants (the New Testament Apostles) to call the guests (once again the Jews). This time they not only ignored the servants, but even killed some of them (the martyric death of the apostles, especially of the first-martyr Stephen and of the apostle James). Naturally, the King was unhappy and sent armies to burn down the town (the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD). Instead of the King’s subjects, all other people were invited, both the good and the bad (the gentiles). One person was not dressed appropriately (he didn’t have any good Christian deeds and refused to participate in the mysteries of the Church) and was therefore cast out.

The meaning of the parable is clear, both in the context of the Jewish people in the Temple in Jerusalem as well as in the context of our own personal spiritual lives, but we can also understand it in a more allegorical or spiritual sense. Today, let’s try to catch its allegorical meaning. The marriage feast, as well as the image of a fatted and butchered ox, can be understood as an image of the Eucharist. A marriage is perhaps the main and most joyous event in the life of any person, while the Liturgy is the central and very likely most festive event in our spiritual life. The butchered ox is very reminiscent of of the blameless lamb which was brought as a sacrifice by the Jews and which is understood by Christians as a foreshadowing of the sinless and blameless Christ who died for our sakes and for the sake of the cleansing of our sins on the Cross. The Eucharist or the Liturgy is not simply a sacrifice to God of bread and wine, but also a memorial, and even more than this – a direct participation in that sacrifice of our Saviour Jesus Christ which He brought when He ascended the Cross. Let’s also remember that when we commune of the Body and Blood of our Saviour at the Liturgy we, in the most direct fashion, accept our God into ourselves, are united with Him not only in the spiritual sense, but also even in the physical. Is this not the goal of marriage, for a man and woman to become as if one body and to live in spiritual concord? In such a way, the parable of the marriage feast can be understood as a teaching on our participation in the mystery of the Eucharist.

God very much wants for us not only to attend as guests the marriage of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, but for us to be united with Him. The bride of Christ is His Church, and we are the members of this Church and are therefore called to join ourselves in the most enduring way to Him. One of these ways is, of course, though the mysteries of the Church and especially through participation in the Eucharist. We should always strive to approach the Chalice in wedding garments, that is, to prepare diligently, read the appropriate prayers, attend the all-night vigil, make amends with our neighbour, fast, and confess our sins with heartfelt contrition so as to always be present at the marriage feast of our Saviour and His Church.

priest Alexis