In this day and age, we receive all manner of electronic invitations (evites): to meetings, parties, events and more. Upon receiving the invitation, are we excited? Were we just hoping for a day or evening off? Does this seem more obligatory than interesting? Do we have to rearrange schedules? Are hoping something more exciting comes along? We have choices – delete, never open, don’t answer, answer with regrets, or accept. And then come all the consequences of all those choices we make, intended or not. Does all this seem like a phenomenon of the internet age? Not really. It is as old as time and part of the gospel.
Just this weekend, All Saints and All Souls remind us that every human life receives the invitation to join God in the Kingdom. Every life is moving toward one of two destinations: either we sit at the banquet of the Lamb, or we stand outside by our own choice, occupied by other concerns..
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells of a great banquet prepared with care and generosity. The invitations go out, but one by one, the guests make excuses: a new field to inspect, oxen to test, a marriage to attend. All seem reasonable enough — yet in the end, each one chooses something else over the invitation of the King.
The Kingdom of God is not a casual opportunity to be accepted when convenient. It is a summons that demands a decision — now. The tragedy of the invited guests is not that they thought so little of the host, but that they preferred something else, something mundane, something profane. They allowed the good to become the enemy of the best. But we don’t do that, right?
- “Yes, I’ll pray more… once things calm down.”
- “I’ll forgive… after I’ve had time to cool off.”
- “I’ll follow You more closely… when life settles.”
- “It’s an open invitation, right? Let me get back to you.”
And the moment of grace passes. Life swallows you up. The seat prepared for you grows cold. One of the problems with procrastination is that it can make it harder to accept God’s call later, as you become accustomed to not listening.
The saints we celebrated two days ago were ordinary people who simply said “yes” to God’s invitation — not someday, but today. They made room for the banquet of grace in the midst of work, family, suffering, and daily duty. The souls we prayed for yesterday are those still being purified of hesitation, learning to love God completely.
So today’s Gospel presses the same question upon us: When the Lord invites us — in prayer, in service, in conversion — do we respond, or do we delay?
To make a decision for Christ means to live each day as if the invitation has just arrived — because it has. Every Mass is a foretaste of that eternal banquet; every “Amen” at Communion is our RSVP to the feast of heaven.
The Feast of the Great King is ready today — not tomorrow, not a time when it’s convenient. The Gospel does not say, “Come when you can,” but “Come — everything is ready.” “Now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor 6:2)
May we not delay our response. May we say yes now — so that, when the great banquet is finally opened, our places will be waiting, and we will hear the words every saint has longed for: “Come, everything is ready.”
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