“HAPPY ARE THOSE WHO EAT AT THE BAQUET IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD!”

Salvation is like being invited into the banquet of God’s Kingdom.

God invites us to share in the heavenly banquet, the wedding feast of the Lamb.

We can use the gifts and grace we receive from the Holy Spirit.

Share the heavenly banquet.

Fortunate will be those who will heed the invitation; they will have the chance of dining with the Master.
 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊    

Philippians 2:5-11

Your attitude should be

The same as Jesus Christ had: Though he was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking on the nature of a servant, made in human likeness, and, in his appearance, found, as a man, He humbled himself by being obedient, to death, death on the cross.

 

That is why God exalted him and gave him the name which outshines all names, so that at the name of Jesus all knees should bend in heaven, on earth and among the dead, and all tongues proclaim, that Christ Jesus is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

 

Ps 22:26b-27, 28-30ab, 30e, 31-32  

 I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊      

Luke 14:15-24

Upon hearing these words, one of those at the table said to Jesus, "Happy are those who eat at the banquet in the kingdom of God!"

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."

 

Gospel Reflection ：

"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 is it 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.