Fr. Michael Williams

Being invited to a wedding is usually something to look forward to. We know that Jesus Himself accepted such invitations. In chapter two of John’s gospel we read, “there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus and His disciples had also been invited” (2:1-2). And according to Luke’s gospel Jesus also accepted invitations from unsavoury characters such as Levi and Zacchaeus.

So we can see that when an invitation is offered to Jesus He uses His free will to accept the invitations. Jesus wants us to send out an invitation to Him so that He can enter into our lives. He will only come into our lives if we invite Him.

But our relationship with the Lord is a two way process. Today’s gospel tells the story of the Lord inviting us to the great banquet of His heavenly kingdom. Jesus tells the parable in which “the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a feast for his son’s wedding”.

However, when the invites are dispatched, it appears no one wants to take up the invitation to the feast. The gospel tells us, “they were not interested: one went off to his farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his servants, maltreated them and killed them”.

In today’s world we can see that many people “are not interested” in accepting God’s invitation to His banquet. People are too busy to be bothered about God and what He offers. Many people today chase after things that don’t last.

The invitation that comes from God contains things that last forever. In other words God invites us to heaven. In the first reading from the prophet Isaiah we have an insight into heaven: “the Lord of Hosts will prepare for all people a banquet of rich food, a banquet of fine wines…He will remove the mourning veil covering all peoples…He will destroy death forever…The Lord will wipe away the tears from every cheek”. This is what God is inviting us to. Are we going to take up the invitation?

God will not force us into accepting His invitation. God gave us free will. He wants us to use that free will to make the right choices, but if we use our free will to make the wrong choices He will respect that. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us: “By free will one shape’s ones own life” (CCC1731). We need to use our free will to accept God’s invitation to be our shepherd, so that He can lead us to “fresh and green pastures where He gives repose”.

So we need to accept the Lord Jesus into our lives. We have done that to some degree by coming to Mass today; by coming to the wedding feast of the Lamb of God. But we need to invite the Lord into all areas of our life. We have to allow the Lord to be our shepherd so that He can “guide us along the right path”. We have to invite the Lord into our lives as we walk through “the valley of darkness” of this world, so that He can one day lead us to the Mountain of God- Paradise. If we don’t take up God’s invitation then we may find ourselves “in the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth”.

Let us pray for the courage to accept the Lord’s invitation to the Kingdom of Heaven, but first let us invite Jesus Christ into our lives on a daily basis, so that He will take us by the hand and walk with us through this valley of darkness; and one day lead us to His own house, where the Blessed dwell for ever and ever. Amen.