Question:
Answer:
You cite the parable of the wedding feast, which culminates in the following verses.
“But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment; and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 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.’ For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:1-14).
Jesus Christ provides the basic garment of righteousness, forgiving our sins and renewing us through the grace of the Holy Spirit, beginning in baptism (John 3:3-5; Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 2:38; Tit. 3:5; 1 Pet. 3:21).
However, we need to respond to the gift or garment of God’s salvation and persevere in it. We ultimately accept or reject this salvific garment through our good works in the Lord, for faith without works is dead, as St. James reminds us (Jas. 2:17; see Matt. 7:13-14, 21-23).