“Put on the New Man: The Garment of Grace”
Liturgical Context: Feria Quarta infra Hebdomadam XIX post Octavam Pentecostes (Wednesday of the 19th Week after Pentecost, October 4th Class)
Readings: Ephesians 4:23–28; Matthew 22:1–14
The sacred liturgy of this Wednesday in the 19th week after Pentecost continues to form us in the spirit of ongoing interior renewal. The Epistle and Gospel readings appointed for today speak with striking clarity to the Christian’s transformation—both inward and outward—calling us to “put on the new man” (Eph 4:24) and warning us of the consequences of presumption and spiritual sloth, as dramatized in Our Lord’s parable of the wedding feast.
The Call to Be Renewed: Ephesians 4:23–28
St. Paul exhorts the Ephesians—and us today—to “be renewed in the spirit of your mind” (Eph 4:23). This is no mere suggestion to adopt better habits. It is a summons to participate in the interior renewal wrought by sanctifying grace, to be conformed more fully to Christ. The Apostle continues: “Put on the new man, who according to God is created in justice and holiness of truth.”
St. John Chrysostom comments on this passage, emphasizing the radical nature of the transformation:
“Do you see how he excludes all wickedness? For these are the members of the old man. If these be taken away, the new man will shine out. For he said not, ‘renew your souls,’ but ‘be renewed in the spirit of your mind,’ that is, in the leading part, the sovereign.” (Homily on Ephesians 13)
Thus, the renewal begins not simply with external actions but with the “spirit of your mind”, the faculty by which we think and choose in accord with divine truth. Holiness is not merely moral decency—it is a restoration of the likeness of God within the soul.
St. Paul gives practical consequences of this renewal: put away lying, speak truth, control anger, and renounce theft. The new man is not some abstract ideal but is lived out concretely in works of justice and charity. “He that stole, let him now steal no more: but rather let him labour… that he may have something to give to him that suffereth need” (v. 28). Charity begins not only with restraint of evil but with the cultivation of good.
The Wedding Garment: Matthew 22:1–14
In today’s Gospel, Our Lord teaches us the parable of the wedding feast, in which a king prepares a banquet for his son’s marriage. When the original guests refuse the invitation—some with indifference, others with violence—the king turns to the highways, gathering in whomever will come. Yet one guest is found without a wedding garment, and for this he is cast out into the darkness.
This parable, while rich with ecclesial and eschatological meaning, is also profoundly personal. The wedding feast is the life of grace—now in the Church, and finally in the Beatific Vision. The wedding garment, as many Fathers interpret, is the life of charity, of sanctifying grace, without which no one may remain at the banquet.
St. Gregory the Great offers this classic interpretation:
“What then must we understand by the wedding garment, but charity? For that man enters the feast, and yet is not clothed in a wedding garment, who is present in the Holy Church, yet does not have charity.” (Hom. 38 on the Gospels)
Thus, it is not enough merely to be in the Church or to respond outwardly to the Lord’s call. The soul must be clothed interiorly in the garment of grace, wrought by the Holy Ghost through the sacraments and perfected by good works.
St. Augustine echoes this:
“The wedding garment is the sanctification received in baptism. It is the new man created according to God.” (Sermon 90.6)
How striking it is, then, to reflect on the seamless connection between the Epistle and the Gospel. St. Paul urges us to “put on the new man”—St. Augustine identifies that new man as the wedding garment. The question arises: Have I put on this garment? Am I living in such a way as to remain at the wedding feast?
Liturgical and Spiritual Context
The Church in this time after Pentecost continues to draw us deeper into the life of the Holy Spirit. The green vestments signal a time of growth, of being conformed quietly to Christ in the ordinary duties of Christian life. Yet today’s liturgy sounds a warning: it is possible to come to the feast and still be found unworthy—not for lack of invitation, but for lack of preparation.
Dom Guéranger, writing in The Liturgical Year, reflects:
“Holy Church, on this fourth day of the week, once consecrated in a special manner to the commemoration of Judas’ betrayal, warns us in these readings to clothe ourselves in the garment of fidelity, lest having received the invitation, we betray our Lord by a life unworthy of Him.”
We are not merely called to attend the feast. We are called to partake worthily, with hearts made pure by confession, clothed in charity, and living in the justice and holiness of the new man.