Friends,
today’s Gospel likens the kingdom of heaven to a man giving a great
dinner. In the parallel passage of this parable from the Gospel of
Matthew, that man is presented as a king and the great dinner as a
wedding feast. Notice that the father (God the Father) is giving a
banquet for his son (God the Son), whose bride is the Church. Jesus is
the marriage of divinity and humanity—and we his followers are invited
to join in the joy of this union.
The
joyful intimacy of the Father and the Son is now offered to us to be
shared. Listen to Isaiah to learn the details of this banquet: "On this
mountain the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich
food and
choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines."
Now,
there is an edge to all of this. For it is the king who is doing the
inviting, and it is a wedding banquet for his son. We can see how
terribly important it is to respond to the invitation of the King of
kings.
We
have heard the invitation of God to enter into intimacy with him, to
make him the center of our lives, to be married to him in Christ—and
often we find the most pathetic excuses not to respond.
Tuesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 486
Brothers and sisters:
We, though many, are one Body in Christ
and individually parts of one another.
Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us,
let us exercise them:
if prophecy, in proportion to the faith;
if ministry, in ministering;
if one is a teacher, in teaching;
if one exhorts, in exhortation;
if one contributes, in generosity;
if one is over others, with diligence;
if one does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
Let love be sincere;
hate what is evil,
hold on to what is good;
love one another with mutual affection;
anticipate one another in showing honor.
Do not grow slack in zeal,
be fervent in spirit,
serve the Lord.
Rejoice in hope,
endure in affliction,
persevere in prayer.
Contribute to the needs of the holy ones,
exercise hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you,
bless and do not curse them.
Rejoice with those who rejoice,
weep with those who weep.
Have the same regard for one another;
do not be haughty but associate with the lowly.
One of those at table with Jesus said to him,
"Blessed is the one who will dine in the Kingdom of God."
He replied to him,
"A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many.
When the time for the dinner came,
he dispatched his servant to say to those invited,
'Come, everything is now ready.'
But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves.
The first said to him,
'I have purchased a field and must go to examine it;
I ask you, consider me excused.'
And another said, 'I have purchased five yoke of oxen
and am on my way to evaluate them;
I ask you, consider me excused.'
And another said, 'I have just married a woman,
and therefore I cannot come.'
The servant went and reported this to his master.
Then the master of the house in a rage commanded his servant,
'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town
and bring in here the poor and the crippled,
the blind and the lame.'
The servant reported, 'Sir, your orders have been carried out
and still there is room.'
The master then ordered the servant,
'Go out to the highways and hedgerows
and make people come in that my home may be filled.
For, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.'"
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