All of humanity, every single person who ever was and ever will be,
is called to the heavenly banquet.
The Heavenly Banquet, also so known as, eternal communion with God.
God calls or invites us in so many ways.
He calls in the quiet of a star filled night.
He calls in the glance of two people in love.
God calls when you hold your child with wonder and awe for the first time.
He calls at the glance of a majestic mountain range or the gentle sound of a stream making its way to the sea.
He calls in prayer and the quiet prompting of our conscience.
The clearest way that God calls is through His Word Jesus.
Jesus God’s son reveals so much about God and about us.
God also calls us through His words in the sacred scriptures and the living tradition of the Church.
God doesn’t call us once to the banquet. He calls us over and over and over again, day in our day out, whether we listen or not.
God just keeps calling.
Sadly as the Gospel explained today many who are called or invited simply refuse to come.
They refuse or we refuse for lots of reasons:
Some think they have a better offer here and now.
Many are so preoccupied, so worried, about the now of their lives, that they can’t even think about forever.
And so the first lesson of this Gospel is that simply that everyone is called over and over again to the banquet but sadly tragically many can’t seem to say yes to God’s invitation.
When many refuse the invitation the master sends out his servants to invite those who at first glance wouldn’t seem to fit into a heavenly banquet or any banquet for that matter.
The servants go out and invite sinners, the poor, the addicted, the angry, the lonely, you know people who never seem to fit in or those we are quick to judge.
They accept the invitation because through all their hard knocks they have come to understand that the path they are on and the world in which we live just can’t seem satisfy.
Sometimes when a person hits their head hard enough they can figure out that they are on the wrong road and change the path they are they are on and the choices that they make.
The second lesson of the Gospel is just as important as the first.
For some reason there was a man who accepted the invitation was thrown out because he was not properly attired.
You see It is simply not enough to say yes to God’s invitation without changing our heart.
That’s what the man who was not properly attired tried to do.
In order to attend the heavenly banquet we have to clothe ourselves in a wedding garment made of acts of kindness and charity and virtue.
Accepting God’s call necessitates a change of heart and a change in what we value and how we live.
The man said yes to the invitation but did not change.
Let us listen to God’s Call.
Let us accept the invitation to the heavenly banquet.
Let us change our hearts and minds.
Let us cloth ourselves with acts of kindness and generosity, mercy, and forgiveness
And one day may we be welcomed wholeheartedly into the heavenly banquet which God so desperately wants us to attend.
Amen
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