Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint 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.'”
The feast of life
1. Organize the feast. God is the organizer of the feast. He brings you into this life to prepare you and other people’s lives. As you know, for there to be a party you need more than one person. Today God invites you to build a community, to share, to open yourself to others in order to make life more pleasant. In solitude it’s difficult to take life as a feast. Jesus himself created a community. Don’t isolate yourself. Fight against the demon that seeks to isolate us. It’s a matter of sharing your life with others, knowing that we cannot live life on our own, that we need one another. Look for that person who contributes to your life, who supports you, who cares for you, who loves you.
2. The guests. They are those who consider that they’re close to the organizer, to God. I’d dare say that they might be people who’ve read a lot and are very religious. But at some point, they seem to forget about life being a feast to enjoy with others; it appears that they talk about it in theory but forget to enjoy it. We can’t make a theory of life. Life is a surprise and every day there’s something new.
3. The uninvited: There are some who are excluded, but not by God, but by themselves, they are self-excluded. There are many who’re not aware of God’s mercy, the feeling of being touched and invited by God. When you really meet God, life changes and you live life in a different way: loving it, living it fully, enjoying it, accepting it as it is, and not making a theory out of everything. There are no first or second class Christians for God, his love can change a person and we’re all invited. Come on! Celebrate life! Share life with God and with others!
Never forget that something good is on the way!
God bless you and be with you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
