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28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
“The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come.” God invites us to the banquet but we had better things to do. In so many of Jesus’ parables God is angry with His people. Left to ourselves we are like unsupervised children. We run riot and chaos breaks out. When we allow God to enter the room there is order, there is security, there is fairness, and there is community. Without God we watch our children go forth into the wilderness. They have persuaded themselves that there is something greater than God out there. They will make up their own value system and it will be great. Many of them come back disillusioned by what they found. Clearly far away hills look green. Standing at home the world they imagined for themselves looked so attractive and desirable. Now the prodigal children come home and they evaluate again the world they came from. It is good to have values that are all about love and peace and justice in the world. It is good to feel the security of belonging to family and community. It is good to be part of a Church where people will make a sincere effort to be there for the members. As Church community it is important that we remain steadfast in the midst of change. People come and go all the time. We are sad when they depart from us but we rejoice when they come back home. We always have a place for one more. The prophet Isaiah speaks to his people defeated by exile and political turmoil. They tasted what the enemy had to offer and they found themselves consumed by it. Too late they realized that God was with His people. Now they have come back home and it is all a wasteland. Where to begin? Isaiah offers them the image of a banquet. They will feast again and the Lord will provide for them. The King in the parable got all excited hosting his banquet and welcoming his guests. Sadly, the guests decided not to turn up. They had better things to do, they considered. The guests who refused to show up were not allowed to determine the outcome. Full or empty the banquet was going ahead. The guests would consist of those welcomed in from the streets. They might not appreciate what was going on but they certainly got a glimpse once they came. We celebrate our Eucharistic banquet every day in our church. Whether they come or not we carry on praising God for all His blessings to us. We welcome the chance to engage with people who come in from the street. We hope they find our community to be hospital and prayerful. We hope they find in us a glimpse of God and Heaven. We can’t spend our days searching and wandering. A day comes when we must drop out bags and sit down. We can’t have a relationship with you if you are always at home and we are always in the Church. We have to be in the same room at some point. We do not live in virtual reality. Maybe you do.
With love, Fr. Pat