In the parable that Jesus tells us about the wedding banquet of the King, we meet an unfortunate fellow who comes to the wedding banquet dressed improperly.  He has come without a wedding garment.  The fellow is promptly ejected from the banquet and thrown out into the streets.  At first glance this seems to be rather harsh treatment, for the fellow was not expecting to be invited.  However, at the heart of this lesson there is more here than just a faux pas or a social gaffe.  There is a profound lack of respect for the King who has been gracious and generous in inviting this fellow into a rich banquet and treating the fellow like a relative.  It would be something like a person today showing up in blue jeans and a T-shirt to a wedding reception held at the Hotel Del Coronado.  It is insulting to the King that the fellow fails to show him the respect that is due to him.  Even if he was without a garment and unable to dress properly, I am sure that the King would have provided one for him if he had only asked.

     This parable places before us the final judgment in which we are given the grace of being invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb and to appear before the King.  When we make our appearance how will we be dressed?  Will we be washed clean in the Blood of the Lamb, cleansed in baptism and wearing the white robe of baptismal dignity?  Or will we just show up casually dressed in the ways of the world, with the stench of the world’s sin and rebellion against God clinging to us, with an in-your-face attitude toward God, totally disrespecting his holiness and goodness?  Final answer – do we respect God, his ways, his holiness and the gift of life that he has so graciously blessed us with or are we going to try a take-me-as-I-am approach?

     Respect.  Sometimes it seems to be a lost virtue in our society.  Respect requires a profound appreciation of the giftedness that we have experienced from one who loves us and a gratefulness for the gifts that are given to us.  Respect demonstrates our goodness and our human dignity.  Respect calls forth a humility within us and acknowledges that we cannot live alone in life but we need others to help us along the way.

     October is a month in which we promote a Respect for Life.  To respect life is to respect the Lord of life who is Jesus.  Jesus says that he is the way, the truth and the life and that he is the resurrection and the life.  Jesus is Life and to Respect Life is to respect our Lord.  In respecting life we acknowledge that we are not the Lord of life and that we cannot just live life on our own terms but that we must respect the gift of life and the law of life that we receive as a gift.  We didn’t ask to be invited into life but we are called to celebrate the gift of life that the Lord has blessed us with and to dress our life in holiness and dignity before we appear before the Lord.

     As Christians we are called to wear in a very public way our “pro-life” garments, the garments of our baptism.  When we Respect Life we show our respect for the one who gave us life.  To Respect Life is to respect the dignity and right to life of every human person created in God’s image and likeness from conception to natural death.  Respect for life is not just a political issue.  The killing of the unborn in abortion, whether surgically or chemically, the intentional killing of a sick or elderly person in euthanasia and other forms of killing are not only political issues, they are moral issues about the sanctity of human life and our responsibility for the lives of our brothers and sisters who are most vulnerable.

     Now more than any other time in the history of our world we face those who refuse the Lord’s invitation to the fullness of life, celebrated in the banquet of life that is the Eucharist.  We find those who come to the banquet dressed in pride and rebellion rather than in the humble garments of obedience.  We witness a profound lack of respect for the sanctity of life and for the holiness and goodness of him who gave us life.  Before coming to the wedding banquet of the King that is the Eucharist, take a look at what you are wearing.  Not just what you have on your body, but more importantly, what you have in your heart!