Gospel Reading: Lk 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.’ ”
REFLECTION
They all began to excuse themselves
Can we refuse God? Can we say “no” to what God asks us to do? Can we refuse God’s invitation? Theoretically we say, “Of course not.” How can we refuse God? We can even hardly refuse our parents or teachers or superiors.
The Gospel parable, however, reminds us that, in fact, we can and we do refuse God, at times. For various reasons:
family, fear, laziness, business. And the more habitually we do this, the more we alienate ourselves from God.
Indeed, how often we lose sight of who is most important in our lives.
Is there anything or anyone more important to us than God?
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SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord 2016,” ST. PAULS Philippines, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
