Jesus replied, “A man once gave a feast and invited many guests. When it was time for the
feast, he sent his servant to tell those he had invited to come, for everything was ready. But
all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘Please excuse me. I must go and see the
piece of land I have just bought.’ Another said: ‘I am sorry, but I am on my way to try out
the five yoke of oxen I have just bought.’ Still another said, ‘How can I come, when I’ve just
got married?’ The servant returned alone, and reported this to his master. Upon hearing his
account, the master of the house flew into a rage, and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly,
into the streets and alleys of the town, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the
lame.’ The servant reported after a while, ‘Sir, your orders have been carried out, but there
is still room.’ The master said, ‘Go out to the highways and country lanes, and force people
to come in, to ensure that my house is full. I tell you, none of those invited will have a morsel
of my feast.”

Reflect

“Banquet in God's kingdom.” Undoubtedly, God provides occasions every day for us to
enter into a deeper relationship with him. However, we tend to ignore the relationship God is
offering us because it entails giving up the ungodly things we are used to doing. Thus,
we will never run out of alibis and excuses in order to refuse accepting God’s offer of deeper
relationship. Today’s Gospel tells of a man who gave a feast and invited many guests. When
it was already time for the feast, all the invited guests had their alibis and excuses, refusing to
come. When the master of the house learned from his servant that those who were invited
refused to come, he ordered the servant to go out in the town’s streets and alleys to invite the
poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame. He also ordered the servant to go out to the
highways and country lanes to force people to come in. A deep relationship with God is
neither born out of a desperate condition nor it is something that can be forced. It is a free
decision to respond to God’s invitation. It is a personal choice born out of the intention to be
closer to God.

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