The Wedding Feast (The Sacrament Retreat)

   The Wedding Feast 

   At the Sacrament Retreat, this is the third and last Parable that is presented.  The reason is because this is the hardest parable to analyze and teach to the children.  When I introduced parables I had told the children that Jesus had three purposes to teach using these parables.  The first was to teach how to treat your neighbor and that was discovered in the Good Samaritan.  The second was to teach how to pray and that was captured in the Insistent Friend parable.  The third reason Jesus taught these parables was to teach us how to get to heaven and how some people reject the call.  

When I start this presentation, I always ask, "How many of you have been to a wedding?"  Most often they have and I say, "Then you wore your very best clothes.  You would never have gone there dirty or with holes in your clothes as that would be an insult to the Bride and Groom's family who worked so hard to make the preparations and get the food ready so that it would be beautiful for everyone.  I show them the King and explain that he is giving a wedding to his son.  I place the other figures in the white robes for the children to see.  These other people have come to the wedding and as they have traveled so far by foot or donkey, it was customary for them to bath in a communal bath and dress in the beautiful robes provided by the King.  (The figure in the green robe I keep in the basket until he is introduced in the Bible Story.)

I take the children back to the Good Shepherd parable when I ask them, "Who is Jesus in this story and who are the sheep?"  "What is the Sheepfold?"  They know these answers and so I tell them I'm going to give them a clue because they already understand that the Sheepfold is either Heaven or the Church.  So the clue is that the Wedding Banquet Hall represents "Heaven."   I ask them to think about this carefully as I read the parable to them.

After reading the scripture I tell them that there are some different groups in this story who make very different choices.  So I ask, "Who are the people in the robes who have come to the wedding?"  I get some interesting answers, like "Angels and Saints."  Then I ask "Who are the people who refuse to come?"  One answer was, "They are sheep outside the sheepfold."  I was pleased with that answer as they refer back to the "Good Shepherd" parable to understand.  So "Yes," I say, "They are maybe people who don't believe in God (atheists) and no one has ever told them about Jesus. They could be people who just don't want to go to mass because their faith isn't very strong.  They could also be people of other faiths who go to other churches.  But then the King says, 'Go out into the byroads and invite the good as well as the bad.'  Do you remember in the Good Samaritan that he had compassion?   Jesus has compassion and he forgives all who come and ask forgiveness.  So if the bad come and put on the new garment, then they are ready to take the next step and begin to follow their faith.  They are ready to shed their old life of sin.  Then who is the person in the green garment who will not speak to the King or change into the new garment. But why then has he come?"  One answer surprised me, a boy said that this was the devil.

I tell the children that this man isn't ready to follow the Ten Commandments or the Maxims, words of Jesus on how to live his life. He is not ready to give up his old ways.  All he has to do is say, "Dear God, I'm sorry for my sins," and he will be welcomed.  But he is not ready.  When he is, the Lord will receive him with great rejoicing.

I say to the children that this is a special year for you all because you will be putting on a new garment and after saying that you are sorry for your sins in the sacrament of Reconciliation.  When you girls wear your beautiful white dresses and the boys wear their white shirts, ties, pressed pants and polished shoes, you are making a big change in your faith and now belong to the church family.  I also tell them how happy the people in the church are to see them receive the Blessed Sacrament.  They will watch them grow up by being altar servers, receiving Confirmation, joining choir or becoming a lector.  You will join the teen group and later graduate from high school and the parish will celebrate with you.  So the church family celebrates you and they will be watching and appreciating with joy.

This is my favorite parable and I always save it to last at the Sacrament Retreat because it is so rich in spiritual meaning.  

The Sacrament Retreat

  The Sacrament Retreat

Once a year we have a Sacrament Retreat at St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church to prepare our children for First Reconciliation and First Holy Eucharist.  We begin with the 9 a.m. Mass then go to our big gathering room, Madonna Hall, to split up into random groups by colors.  So there are four color groups and four rotations every 45 minutes.   Each of the three catechists do three Moral Parables which take about 15 minutes each.  Each of the four groups at some point during the day rotate to the church where there are two catechists who practice with them: one group go in the actual Confessional to learn how to go to Confession while the other group practice how to receive the host on their tongue and the wine.  We always have a wonderful hot dog luncheon for them with veges and dip, fruit cup and lots of homemade cookies and cupcakes.  They love this day!

Two weeks before this retreat, I have gone over the Ten Commandments and an examination of conscience which is a booklet I've made for all the students.  The next week we go over at least six of the Maxims with an examination of conscience in another booklet I've made for them.  In the inside cover of each of these booklets I've put the steps to go to Confession along with the Act of Contrition.   Our pastor has a specific version of this prayer that he wants the children to memorize.  I only mention this because each year we are joined by the local All Saints Catholic School for this retreat and they learn the old version.  (If anyone should want these booklets you can write to me and I will email them to you.)

In the above photo I show our prayer table and how I set it for this special day.  One of the parables of the day will be "The True Vine" given by one of the other catechists and so it is fitting to have the grapes on the vine as we refer back to this parable for the remainder of the year.  Actually the wrought iron cross that the grapes hang from was given to me by a very special friend,  Nellie Renterio, who I went through Level I and Level II training with in Phoenix. During my Level II training she let me stay with her every weekend.   I had to travel three hours to Phoenix and afterward three hours home, so she was a Godsend.  Those were long hard trips and I will never forget her hospitality and generosity to me.  So the cross has a special place in my home but I bring it into the atrium for the remainder of the year.  As you can see, "The Summary of the Law" sits at the left and "The Maxims" are to the right.  So I begin my lesson at the retreat with the "The Summary of the Law" and explain the Maxims as Jesus' own words in the Bible, as I really don't know if the other children have been taught them yet.

For the retreat I selected what I consider the most difficult of all the Moral Parables:  "The Good Samaritan," "The Insistent Friend," and "The Wedding Feast."  They tax my brain every year but  hopefully I've become better at teaching these difficult parables.   That being said, it's been seven years now that we've been preparing our children for the Sacraments and started Level II at our parish.  They become new again every year.

I begin the presentations as I said with "The Greatest of all Commandments."  I talk to them about how they are beautiful creations of God and that he loves us so much that he puts us on a pedestal and wants us to show our love to Him by loving each other.  Then I talk to them about Parables.  Some of these children may have never heard that word before and so I ask if anyone can tell me.  Then I explain what it was like 2,000 years ago when people had nothing like we do today.  We live like Kings and Queens with electricity and cars, etc.  So Jesus had to teach them by using Parables,  talking to them about what they knew so well, such as sheep herding and farming vegetables; the roads they traveled; and even about wedding celebrations, just to explain what he wanted them to learn and understand.  There were three important things he wanted the people to understand when telling a Parable:  First, He wanted them to learn how to treat their other people.  Secondly, He wanted them to learn how to pray.  Third and most of all, He wanted them to learn what they had to do to get into heaven and also what might keep them from getting to heaven.  So these three Moral Parables that I read and discussed at the Retreat teach these very three topics.   I suggest doing them in this order.

Go to "The Good Samaritan" link where I will go into the discussion on this parable that I used at the Retreat.  This parable covers "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Go to "The Insistent Friend" link for the discussion to this parable.  This parable covers "Be persistent in prayer."

Go to "The Wedding Feast" link for the last parable to discuss in depth.   This parable covers "How to get to Heaven."