Are You Saying Yes To God’s Invitation?

parable of wedding feast

28th Sunday In Ordinary Time

Fr. Mark Gatto

Preached: October 11, 2020

Have you ever invited someone for a dinner at your home and they said that they are coming and you spend lots of time getting things set up.  You cook all day, get the table prepared and then at the last moment they call to cancel?  All that preparation and excitement of hosting them.  It is very disappointing and upsetting.

Well, God, the Creator of the Universe, came to us in Jesus, to invite us to a great banquet.  In Jesus, God has invited all human beings to the banquet of eternal life.  This gathering will be at home in the Holy Trinity.

Our first reading today is from the Prophet Isaiah, it is a reading that is often used at funerals.  The Prophet Isaiah offers a vision of God’s plan for us, using the image of  a great banquet.  God hosts a feast of rich food, well aged wines.  Death will be swallowed up forever and tears will be wiped away from all faces.  Imagine being invited to the great banquet of our God to celebrate forever.

But, in the Gospel today, Jesus tells a parable about a king inviting people to a wedding banquet.  Some say no, others say they are too busy, others have their business to take care of, others reject even those who bring the invitation.

Imagine being invited to eternal life and saying, “no, I am not interested.”  “No, I am too busy doing important things here right now.”

Imagine being invited to be a beloved child of God, to live forever in the embrace of the Holy Trinity and saying, “no thanks.”

We do this by our decisions, by our actions, by our way of life.  Does my way of life, do my decisions and priorities, say yes to the invitation to the wedding feast prepared for us by God?

A good examination of conscience for each of us is to ask myself this question:  By my life right now, by my decisions, by my priorities, am I accepting or rejecting the invitation to the great banquet prepared for us by God?

How am I treating the people in my life? Do I spend time with Jesus now in prayer and sacraments? Do I share with others in our world, showing a concern that no one is left out? By my life and faith am I dressed for the banquet that God has invited us to attend?

Our God, came to us in Jesus, to give to each one of us an invitation to the great banquet of eternal life.  At our baptism, we received that invitation personally.  Now each of us need to accept that invitation from God by our life, by our decisions, by our priorities.  Are we saying yes to the invitation from God?

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