In [the parable of the wedding feast] there are four types of guests. Those who didn't care, and ignored the invitation. Those who cared but manifested in hatred and murder. Those from the streets, the good and the bad, who came and received, gratuitously, the robe of righteousness. And then finally, he who came, but did not put on his garment. When we read a parable like this, obviously, we want to ask a question: who are we, in this parable?

It's very helpful to have one calling. It makes things simple. Life seems so complex sometimes. There's so many choices, so many things tugging at us in so many directions. It's easy to get confused. We end up turning ourselves in circles, trying to decide which way to go, what to focus on. It actually creates an existential crisis, a paralysis, and certainly contributes to our anxiety, which seems to be an epidemic in our day and age.

When Jesus says "Weep not", He means trust me, do not give in to despair, do not lose hope, for I am the Resurrection and the life, and I promise to make all things new, even if for a while there will be suffering.

What we're after is security and happiness. That's what we all want, what we all desire. But in our current condition, we feel this deep insecurity, and everything we do is trying to alleviate this. God made us hungry, that we might hunger for Him. We are vulnerable beings, and God made us vulnerable that we might rely on him.

Often when one reads a passage in the Bible, the first question we ask is "what is the moral lesson here, how does this passage instruct me to live?" There is nothing wrong with asking those questions, but they are not the first, nor most important questions we should ask when seeking to understand a scriptural passage.

The first and most important question is always theological. What is the Christological significance of this passage? How does this passage reveal Jesus Christ and his saving work? Our parable today of the Good Samaritan is one of the best examples to illustrate what I mean because, while it has an obvious moral message, it has an even more profound Christological revelation.

This is what St. Peter is saying in his second epistle, which was our first reading today, where he speaks of his personal experience when he witnessed Christ's Transfiguration on Mount Tabor. As he writes St. Peter is preparing for his imminent death by crucifixion, when he will put off his tent (you remember he wanted to set up tents on the Mountain). As he prepares for his death, he recalls this event in order to remind the Faithful what they are destined for, what God has promised them- if, and there is an if. If they do certain things.

True religion is to offer the sacrifice of worship, to fast, pray, give tithes, care for the needy, abstain for sexual impurity, to conform to the family rules in mutual submission and to do it all with the right interior disposition, with true faith, humility, and love.

If you do all the stuff without the right interior disposition, you have false religion. If you try to have the right interior disposition without obedience, you have no religion, and end up with the subjective god of self.