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From: Judges 11:29-39a

Jephthah’s rash vow

[29] Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed through
Gilead and Manasseh, and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of
Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. [30] And Jephthah made a vow to the
Lord, and said, “If thou wilt give the Ammonites into my hand, [31] then whoever
comes forth from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return victorious
from the Ammonites, shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer him up for a burnt
offering.”

Jephthath’s victory over the Ammonites

[32] So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them; and the
Lord gave them into his hand. [33] And he smote them from Aroer to the neigh-
borhood of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a very great
slaughter. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel.

In fulfillment of his vow, Jephthah sacrifices his daughter

[34] Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah; and behold, his daughter came
out to meet him with timbrels and with dances; she was his only child; beside her
he had neither son nor daughter. [35] And when he saw her, he rent his clothes,
and said, “Alas, my daughter! you have brought me very low, and you have be-
come the cause of great trouble to me; for have opened by mouth to the Lord,
and I cannot take back my vow.” [36] And she said to him, “My father, if you have
opened your mouth to the Lord, do to me according to what has gone forth from
your mouth, now that the Lord has avenged you on your enemies, on the
Ammonites.” [37] And she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me; let
me alone two months, that I may go and wander on the mountains, and bewail
my virginity, I and my companions.” [38] And he said, “Go.” And he sent her
away for two months; and she departed, she and her companions, and bewailed
her virginity upon the mountains. [39] And at the end of two months, she
returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had made.

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Commentary:

11:29-40. The Bible contains clear laws which, in addition to forbidding the killing
of an innocent person (Ex 23:7), regard human sacrifice as a very grave sin, a
crime and a form of idolatry (cf. Lev 18:21; 20:2-5; Deut 12:31; 18:10; Mic 6:7).
Human sacrifice was common among Israel’s neighbours, as can be seen from
Ugarit and Phoenician texts and from the book of Kings (2 Kings 3:27) which
reports the sacrificing of the first-born son of Mesha, king of Moah; there even
seems to have been an instance of it in Israel (cf. 2 Kings 16:3). But in all cases
it is condemned. However, the sacrificing of Jephthah’s daughter is reported
without any clear negative criticism and the event was commemorated year by
year (v. 40). The episode certainly is disconcerting, but it may be that the author
(writing at a time when no one was in any doubt about human sacrifice being an
abomination) chose to respect the traditions that had come down, cruel and
harsh though they were, in order to convey a lesson about the sacredness of
vows and promises. Vows are such holy things that they should always be kept.
But, for that very reason, they should not be made rashly. This teaching is
repeated elsewhere in the Bible in reaction to abuses involved in the fulfillment of
vows, especially by those who made them hurriedly and then went back on them
(cf. Num 30:3; Deut 23:22-24; Eccles 5:3-4; cf. also Lev 27:1ff).

When revelation reaches its fullness, the doctrine on vows and promises made to
God becomes quite clear: a person may, out of devotion, promise God that he
will perform some act – say some prayer, give alms or do some other good work.
Keeping this promise is a sign of respect for God’s majesty and of love towards a
faithful God. Sometimes, that promise may take the form of a vow, that is, of “a
deliberate and free promise made to God, concerning some good which is poss-
ible and better” (Code of Canon Law, c. 1191, 1) which “is an act of devotion in
which the Christain dedicates himself to God or promises him some good work”
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2102). If having made a promise or vow, one
realizes that one has promised something wrong, one clearly should not keep the
promise: to do so would not be proof of fidelity to God; it would be sacrilegious.
Therefore, Jephthah’s action cannot be justified.

11:37. Jephthah’s daughter asks him to delay carryout out his vow so that she
can “bewail her virginity”, that is, lament that fact that she will die before marrying
or conceiving a child. These were ambitions of every Israelite woman and not to
have achieved them would have been a reason for feeling ashamed and sorrow-
ful.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Matthew 22:1-14

The Parable of the Marriage Feast

[1] And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, [2] “The kingdom
of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his
son, [3] and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the
marriage feast; but they would not come. [4] Again he sent other
servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have made
ready my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves are killed, and everything
is ready; come to the marriage feast.’ [5] But they made light of it
and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, [6] while the
rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.
[7] The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those
murderers and burned their city. [8] Then he said to his servants,
“The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. [9] Go
therefore to the thoroughfares, and invite to the marriage feast as
many as you find.’ [10] And those servants went out into the streets
and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good; so the wedding
hall was filled with guests.

[11] “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a
man who had no wedding garment; [12] and he said to him, ‘Friend, how
did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.
[13] Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot,
and cast him into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash
their teeth.’ [14] For many are called, but few are chosen.”

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Commentary:

1-14. In this parable Jesus reveals how intensely God the Father desires
the salvation of all men—the banquet is the Kingdom of heaven —and the
mysterious malice that lies in willingly rejecting the invitation to attend,
a malice so vicious that it merits eternal punishment. No human
arguments make any sense that go against God’s call to conversion and
acceptance of faith and its consequences.

The Fathers see in the first invitees the Jewish people: in salvation
history God addresses himself first to the Israelites and then to all
the Gentiles (Acts 13:46).

Indifference and hostility cause the Israelites to reject God’s loving
call and therefore to suffer condemnation. But the Gentiles also need
to respond faithfully to the call they have received; otherwise they will
suffer the fate of being cast “into outer darkness”.

“The marriage”, says St Gregory the Great (”In Evangelia Homiliae”, 36)
“is the wedding of Christ and his Church, and the garment is the virtue
of charity: a person who goes into the feast without a wedding garment
is someone who believes in the Church but does not have charity.”

The wedding garment signifies the dispositions a person needs for
entering the Kingdom of heaven. Even though he belongs to the Church,
if he does not have these dispositions he will be condemned on the day
when God judges all mankind. These dispositions essentially mean
responding to grace.

13. The Second Vatican Council reminds us of the doctrine of the “last
things”, one aspect of which is covered in this verse. Referring to the
eschatological dimension of the Church, the Council recalls our Lord’s
warning about being on the watch against the wiles of the devil, in order
to resist in the evil day (cf. Eph 6:13). “Since we know neither the
day nor the hour, we should follow the advice of the Lord and watch
constantly so that, when the single course of our earthly life is
completed (cf. Heb 9:27), we may merit to enter with him into the
marriage feast and be numbered among the blessed (cf. Mt 25:31-46)
and not, like the wicked and slothful servants (cf. Mt 25:26), be ordered
to depart into the eternal fire (cf. Mt 25:41), into the outer darkness
where “men will weep and gnash their teeth’” (”Lumen Gentium”, 48).

14. These words in no way conflict with God’s will that all should be
saved (cf. 1 Tim 2:4). In his love for men, Christ patiently seeks the
conversion of every single soul, going as far as to die on the cross
(cf. Mt 23:37; Lk 15:4-7). St Paul teaches this when he says that
Christ loved us and “gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and
sacrifice to God” (Eph 5:2). Each of us can assert with the Apostle
that Christ “loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20). However,
God in his infinite wisdom respects man’s freedom: man is free to
reject grace (cf. Mt 7:13-14).

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.