Let's Clean Up Our Act

The Gospel yesterday dealt with the wedding guest who didn't wear a wedding garment to the feast and was "cast... into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.". (Matthew 22:1-14)
Sounds dismal, doesn't it?  If someone who wasn't expecting to go to the wedding feast can be thrown out for not wearing the right clothes, what chance do we have?  It makes getting to Heaven sound random and completely at the whim of God (see below for a sidebar).  It may sound that way, but my pastor said yesterday that the wedding garment meant clean clothes and that not wearing a wedding garment meant not cleaning up your act. That made me feel better.  When the man was asked why he didn't wear his wedding garment, he didn't have a reply.  I almost imagine him shrugging and mumbling, "I dunno."  His passivity was a choice- not making a choice is still a choice.  If we choose to be passive and 'let' life happen to us, then we will have to accept the consequences.  If we choose to be active and clean up our act, then we can hope to reap the rewards.

Sidebar:  "...completely at the whim of God..."  A week ago our associate pastor told this joke:
A man died and was at the gates of Heaven.  St. Peter said to him, "Tell me why you should get into Heaven.  You have to score 100 points, so make it good!"  The man thought for awhile and  began, "Well, I was a good Catholic, I had all my sacraments, I went to Mass every Sunday, I went to Reconciliation at least twice a year, I observed Holy Days, I said Grace at every meal, I said my prayers every day, I read the Bible and meditated on the readings every day, I honored my marriage vows and I was a good father to my 12 kids, grandfather to my 42 grandkids, and great grandfather to my 6 great grandkids."  St. Peter said, " That's wonderful! One point, you have 99 more to go."  The man was surprised, but continued, "OK, I volunteered at my church, I was a Lector, a Eucharistic Minister, I took Communion to the sick, I helped at the soup kitchen, I donated money and clothes to the poor, I gave 10% of my income to the Church, I took Communion to prisoners, built houses with Habitat for Humanity and I worked for Catholic Charities."  St. Peter smiled and said, "That's fantastic! One point, now you have 98 to go."  The man was reeling now, what more should he have done to get into Heaven?  He exclaimed to St. Peter, "Goodness!  At this rate I'll only get in by the grace of God!"  St. Peter cried, "That's right!  100 points- you can enter Heaven now!"  It isn't at the whim of God, but it is by the grace of God that we can enter Heaven!!