Tuesday – 31st Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel – Luke 14:15-24

Excuses!

Lunch, Old City Jerusalem

 

 

I’m too tired!  I don’t feel well! It’s too far!  It’s too late!  I won’t know anyone!  I have a project I must finish!  My car broke down!  I don’t have a thing to wear!  I lost my keys!  I’m grounded!

Excuses!  If we’re honest, we use them a lot and most of the time they have no basis in reality.  We just don’t want to go to that party, that family gathering, that formal dinner!  Maybe it’s laziness or lack of interest!  Maybe we’re upset with the host or we don’t get along with some of the other ‘invitees’!  Whatever the reason, we make a lot of excuses!

Today’s Gospel story of the Great Feast should be very familiar; just a couple months ago, we heard Matthew’s version.  Back then we focused on the guests, some who came unprepared and many who refused to attend.

But today let’s turn our attention to the host!  We have all hosted great dinners, celebrations of engagements, graduations, birthdays and holidays.  We are now a little over 3 weeks away from Thanksgiving.  In our house, in a ‘normal’ year, that would mean the cleaning has already begun, not to mention the planning of the menu and the grocery lists.  We all know the time and the effort necessary to pull off a great Thanksgiving dinner.  So imagine all the details and logistics the man in the parable must have gone through to prepare his “great feast”.

And nobody came!  Nobody came!  Was he upset?  Yes, of course!  But notice that he didn’t just pack everything up, shut the doors and turn out the lights.  He went ahead with the dinner and invited even more people, essentially everyone.  Consider what this says not just about the man, but about God!  The feast is always prepared, the table is always set, the doors are always open.   Some will refuse to come.  Many will make excuses, but ALL are invited!  This parable speaks to us of God’s abundant love and generosity.  He doesn’t give us only one chance to respond to His call; the opportunity exists on a daily basis.

Accepting the invitation is not always easy but it is always there!  Even in a time of social and political unrest and deep personal concerns, even at a time when gathering at a Thanksgiving meal is the last thing on our minds, God is persistent and He continues to invite us to His feast.  May God grant us the strength and the grace to respond to His invitation!

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