The Gospel according to Luke (14:15-24)
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.'”
Reflection:
I think we have some of Jesus’ harshest words in today’s Gospel. It doesn’t begin that way, though. First, we have a wonderful invitation to the “invited” to a great dinner by a gracious master. But, after hearing the excuses of why those individuals couldn’t prioritize the invitation, the master calls to others, and ends today’s passage with the promise that those who were originally invited will never be invited back. I know which group I would like to be in. It’s the group of those who the servants called to when the invited ones refused, right?
To me, there is no surprise about this Gospel story coming so soon after the celebrations of All Saints and All Souls from this past weekend. At All Saints, we celebrate those who we believe were in that “invited” group, except unlike the invited in this Gospel, they responded joyfully to the invitation. They even tried to get others to come in, by their words, but even more so by their lives. At All Souls, we remember the vast multitude of all the holy souls who have gone before us. They represent the group to which the servants went, when those who were invited made excuses, and refused to come.
The lesson to us is clear in these last weeks of the liturgical year. First, we have to know that we are the invited, the chosen. God has called each one of us to be part of His family, His ministry, and part of the eternal banquet that never ends. Here’s the important note: we don’t respond to that invitation only once. Our “yes” to God is something that we say every day of our lives. We have to make the conscious choice to choose to do what God asks of us, to live out our faith, and allow it to guide us and to help us to draw others into that same family to which we belong. We can’t keep our faith to ourselves – we have to share it. We Must Share It. If we don’t, then we are like the ones that Jesus rebuked in today’s Gospel. We definitely do not want that to be the response of Jesus when we come to face Him at the gates of heaven.
But, what when it’s hard? What about when we have to love those whom we do not want to love? The same rule applies to us. We have to love. We Have To Love. And when it is beyond our ability to love, that’s when we ask our loving Lord to give us the ability to love beyond what we can do on our own. And, then, we go out and love.
As I said a bit ago, we say “yes” to that invitation today and every day of our lives. Our prayer and our hope, then, is this: when our journey on earth is done, we have faith that we will find welcome to that eternal banquet, where a seat is prepared and waiting for us. May each of us see our mission today and all the days that follow as living up to that invitation we received. Then, we can look forward with confidence to the eternal joy that waits for us, for that “yes” and our loving actions each day.
Action for the Day:
Maybe today is a day that you don’t feel like extending love and care, because you feel so tired and discouraged about the state of the world. Take time today to ask God to give you the ability to love, and to place your tiredness and discouragement in His Hands, knowing that God will replace it with His joy and peace. And, if that’s not you, I’m sure you know someone who feels that way. Offer that person to the Lord in prayer. God will always answer that prayer!
Link to the DEACON5 website: https://deacon5.com/
If you would like to hear this reflection, click the link below!
