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<\/a><\/p>\nA few weeks before leaving my assignment at Saint Joseph Parish in Augusta, I organized a marriage preparation workshop in Spanish for several couples.\u00a0 I opened the hall at 6:30pm, turned on the air conditioning, and made sure everything was ready.\u00a0 The tables and chairs were set, the food was ready, my talks were finished, and the couple I invited to lead the workshop arrived.\u00a0 Suddenly it was 7pm, the time to start, but none of the eight couples arrived.\u00a0 A few minutes past 7:30, as I was about to close the building, a young couple I did not recognize entered the room.\u00a0 They were from a neighboring parish. The next morning two more couples joined the workshop, both came out of town.<\/p>\n
I felt like the king of the Parable of the Great Banquet.\u00a0 When none of the invited guests arrived to the wedding banquet after presenting all sorts of excuses, the king ordered his servants to invite whoever they found in the streets.\u00a0 All sorts of unexpected guests arrived, and none of them were the original invitees.\u00a0 The same occurred at the marriage workshop: many were invited, but unexpected guests came and they benefited tremendously from it.\u00a0 Just in the same way, many are invited to enter God\u2019s Kingdom, but not all chose to come.<\/p>\n
The chances that a king will invite the general population to the wedding of his son are nonexistent.\u00a0 What are the chances of any high-profile politician today inviting his whole electorate to a family function?\u00a0 Kings and politicians invite to their parties people who have somehow merited to be invited.\u00a0 In contrast, we are all invited to take part in the banquet of God\u2019s kingdom not because we are good or have merited an invitation, but because God chooses to invite us.\u00a0 His invitation is a gift.\u00a0 The guests are free to accept or reject the invitation.<\/p>\n
So many throughout history have ignored God\u2019s invitation to follow Him more closely and have busied themselves with other things that do not fulfill.\u00a0 Israel responded to God\u2019s invitation to leave slavery in Egypt, but they soon rose up against Moses in the desert.\u00a0 Prophets like Isaiah were sent by God throughout the centuries to preach a message of repentance and mercy, but they were often rejected.\u00a0 Some were killed like Jeremiah and John the Baptist because the people rejected God\u2019s invitation to the banquet.\u00a0 So many saw and heard Jesus preach and teach, yet they still yelled \u201ccrucify him, crucify him!\u201d\u00a0 So many have believed wholeheartedly throughout the centuries, but at the rise of the slightest hurt or struggle, have rejected God and his promise of salvation.<\/p>\n
It is easy to ignore God\u2019s invitation to act with charity, to stop an argument or gossip, to offer a sacrifice, to express kindness or mercy, or to show patience.\u00a0 Like the guests of the parable, it is easy to make excuses, reject the invitation, and act differently.\u00a0 The rejection of the king by his guests continues to happen today, but the king never ceases to invite more guests to the banquet.\u00a0 The food is ready and the table is set.\u00a0 It is our choice whether or not we accept the invitation.<\/p>\n
The Calling of Saint Matthew<\/em> by Caravaggio.\u00a0 Picture not mine.\u00a0 Picture in the public domain<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A few weeks before leaving my assignment at Saint Joseph Parish in Augusta, I organized a marriage preparation workshop in Spanish for several couples.\u00a0 I opened the hall at 6:30pm, turned on the air conditioning, and made sure everything was ready.\u00a0 The tables and chairs were set, the food was ready, my talks were finished, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2533,"featured_media":3468,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[217],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article"],"yoast_head":"\n
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