“The king said to him, ‘My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?’ But he was reduced to silence.” – Matthew 22:12
Take a moment after you read this to close your eyes and imagine your baptism. Most people were baptized as infants and do not remember it, but perhaps you have pictures of or have heard about your baptism. Imagine being sealed with holy oil and the sign of the cross. The pure, holy water flows over your head, washing away original sin. You receive a white garment, the clothes of your new Christian life. A candle is lit by your godparents and given to you, passing on the light of Christ to you. In heaven, God the Father rejoices in you, and claims as His beloved son or daughter. Take a few moments now to see yourself in this light, as a beloved child, clothed in Christ.
The white garment is a baptismal gift from God. God gives it to us and calls us to preserve and care for it, keeping it ready to bring with us to “the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:9). This is the wedding garment that the man was missing in today’s Gospel reading (Matthew 22:1-14). The Catechism teaches: “The white garment symbolizes that the person baptized has ‘put on Christ…Having become a child of God clothed with the wedding garment, the neophyte is admitted ‘to the marriage supper of the Lamb’” (CCC 1243).
“As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”
Galatians 3:27
The white garment is what gives us access to the heavenly banquet that we hear about in our first reading (Isaiah 25:6-10). It also gives us access to the table of the Holy Eucharist, which is the foretaste of that very feast here on earth! We should never approach this holy table without our wedding garment.
The wedding garment represents the state of our souls. Those wearing a suitable “wedding garment” are in a state of grace, received at baptism and maintained throughout life through reception of the sacraments. This causes me to ask myself, what is the state of my wedding garment, my baptized soul? Is it muddy through venial sin? Or have I lost it completely due to mortal sin? Do I need to receive sacramental Confession to have it cleaned or replaced? Do I seek to clothe myself in Christ’s virtues each and every day (see Galatians 3:27)?
Jesus, help me to see myself as a chosen child of the Father. Clothe me with Your compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience (Colossians 3:12).