19 August 2021
Thursday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
Some protestant theologians have argued that Mary’s yes was so conditioned by God’s grace that a negative answer would have been impossible. Thus, her participation in the event was not entirely free. There are serious consequences to such a position that there was no free will active in Mary’s decision since such a position equates the action of God as nothing less than an assault. Catholic theology has always begun with the premise that Mary’s yes was a free response to the mystery of God’s action in her life. In this “yes” she stands as a model. It is God that saves but humanity is free to accept or deny that invitation. In today’s reading we hear how, in God’s mercy, the invitation to the wedding banquet goes out to all “the bad and the good alike.” Yet the invitation required the choice of wearing a wedding garment, something that was attainable to all and a requirement for participation in the banquette, a banquette that far exceeded the requirements of the garment. One guest could not say yes, and the consequences followed. In today’s reading we recall that Mary’s yes did not equal the saving act of God, but it was her yes that enabled the benefits to occur in her life and in others.