28^th Sun in Ord Time   10/11/26

 

When beginning to pray with this gospel I had a new and even disturbing thought about the theme.  The theme is about our need to respond to divine invitations.   So yes, we say yes.   But these invitations keep coming.   The divine never lets us alone.   That is, we are being invited every second into some presence in the universe that is God’s gift to us. 

An anxious thought.   Do we need to RSVP every moment?    Our bodies, for example, are invited to take a breath.   Fortunately our bodies react instinctively without us having to worry about accepting the invitation.   But this sort of thing is happening all the time.  Right now, too, the chairs are inviting us to be comfortable, the light is inviting us to open our eyes, the sounds are inviting us to listen.   And, by the way, if you don’t want to accept my invitation and listen to my voice, I don’t have a plan for retaliation.   No need to be anxious.

My least favorite invitation is the one to get up in the morning.   And I don’t do it out of any eagerness to get going in the early hours….showers and coffee have none of the attractiveness of the invitation described in Isaiah, to a feast on the Lord’s Mountain But I get up and get some coffee with at least one goal in mind:  I don’t want my house mates to worry about whether the old man in the house died during the night.

Truly, though, the morning sunrise often presents a delightful sky.   And even now as we awaken in the darker hours there might be sights to see.   Despite the light pollution, the Philadelphia sky was quite clear early yesterday morning and I could see most of the stars of Orion.   Despite the daily violence, such sights at dawn always help me be confident about the day ahead.

Even the retired among us are used to having each day…. at least a short list of “invitations” to attend to.   Invitations simply to read personal emails, invitations to the prayers for the day.   Invitations to respond to questions or to send a return greeting to a friend or family member.   And who needs a return phone call or a card in the mail?   What part will I play in a family or church group that is preparing an event?   And everyday I am invited for a walk and a nap.   The more I think of the usual ordinary daily invitations, the less anxious I become.

And I think, surely, this gospel story for us is about the invitations that we sometimes ignore.   Jesus’s parable here illustrates the ignorance of people who are so pre-occupied by their own concerns, here named as a farm and a business, so pre-occupied to even listen to an important invitation from a ruler with influence over their futures.   The interaction between those who turn down the invitation by killing the messengers and the king who destroys their insulting cities is Jesus’s way of grapping our attention….but it also addresses the danger of violence that is always present in human affairs.

Here Jesus’s principal message for his listeners is clear:  “I have been sent to invite the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to the kingdom of God.  Repent of your narrow preoccupations with Temple sacrifice and Torah laws.  Come to be with me and celebrate this kingdom because those who refuse the invitation will be lost in their own confusion.”  But the Temple leaders and interpreters of a strict Torah refuse.   Thus as Jesus says, the invitation will then be shared with those who have no farms and businesses, those on the streets who rarely enjoy such good fortune.  In short the invitation is accepted by many ordinary Jews and then, of course, by the Gentiles.

For us living in this troubled world, a banquet on the Isaian mountain seems distant and unreal.   But Jesus’ invitation is on-going and we, yes we, are now invited to be among those messengers sent into the world to make sure that everyone hears the message, not just the farmers and business owners.   We are the disciples and each day we are invited with the sound of the morning alarm to, as the song says, “Go out, go out to all the world and tell the good news, tell the good, good news.”  

Our invitations to the wedding banquet celebrate good news, especially the God-given human dignity of every person.  But so many troubles now overwhelm that dignity.   We shudder considering what continues to happen in Gaza, the West Bank & Ukraine.  And the malnutrition and death in Sudan.   And here in Pennsylvania, weekend gun violence took the life of a police officer in West Philly and the lives of eight people in Erie.   And the Pope continues to call out our government. The most recent issue: The decision to livestream the execution of a man convicted of killing his military colleagues.  The Pope called it “incomprehensible.” 

The more outrages pile on, the more discerning we must be about how to accept God’s invitation to tell the good news.  A good first step is prayer and our best prayers are within a community of persons supporting one another in finding practical ways to temper the violence in human hearts.  Yes, God-given dignity calls us to respect human life from conception to natural death, to respect persons no matter their race or their sexual orientation, calls for us, especially now in this country to continue practices that create humane pathways for immigrants to gain citizenship.   We proclaim the words of Mary who said, “the hungry he has satisfied with good things and the rich sent empty away.”  So we look people in the eye and find God there.   And we preach at least a poverty of spirit and invite all to believe the good news.

And, of course, as we said earlier, the invitation is every moment because God is found in all things.   And sometimes we are invited to silence our voices and accept the invitation to quiet prayer in a community committed to the mission of Jesus Christ.  Yes to some quiet prayer with Jesus at this Eucharistic table.