Redeeming The Time

The Parable of the Great Supper is always read two Sundays before Nativity. We explain the parable in terms of the the incarnation, how men react to this great miracle, and how it effects us. We then get to the important part—applying the parable to our spiritual life, and looking at a few of the parable's peculiar statements: "Then the master of the house being angry..." and "Compel them to come in." There is a mystical teaching here about the important and good passion of anger, and how it is used to save the soul, and how the soul is compelled to act righteously. This "compelling" does not violate our free will—on the other hand, it must be born voluntarily from deep within us, voluntarily, and energized by good anger.