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Gospel: 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 Gospel of the Lord.
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We’ve all made different commitments in life. Some of them are quite demanding.
For example, there’s marriage, family, friends, work, ministry, sports, leisure, and so on. If we ordered them from most to least important, which commitment would come out on top? Which one would be second? Third?
We really don’t need to answer the question with words; how we spend our time speaks for itself.
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In today’s Gospel, we encounter three people who’ve made the same commitment – to attend a friend’s dinner party.
However, when the time for the party arrives, each says to the host, “I ask you, consider me excused.”
One just purchased a new plot of land. Another bought five oxen. A third was just married and preferred to be alone with his wife, even though they could’ve gone to the banquet together.
Being attentive to your spouse, tending your land, and caring for your animals are all good things. But each of these three people fell victim to a timeless temptation: choosing what is good over what is great.
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The Lord uses this imagery of hosting a dinner party to describe God’s invitation for us to join him at Mass.
Often, we say “yes,” as we should.
But when do we find ourselves saying, “I ask you, consider me excused?” What life priorities trump Sunday worship?
It could be one of the many other commitments we’ve made: work, our child’s sports schedule, even feeling tired after a dinner party the night before. When this happens, the Lord falls from first to second place in our lives.
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“Come, everything is ready,” Jesus says to us. Will we accept his invitation this week?
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Image credits: (1) Oakwood Church of Carrollwood (2) LinkedIn (3) Jesus with the Eucharist at the Last Supper, Juan de Juanes