Homily

Growing up I never really understood this parable, because I didn't really see why an invitation to a banquet was such a big deal. Oh, yes, very nice I suppose, to get to attend a fine feast; but if these people didn't want to go, then why should the host be so upset? And besides they all had good reasons, didn't they? Surely the host didn't want to force people to attend his great dinner, did he?

But there was always one part of the parable that I did not understand. This was not a simple story about people declining an invitation to a banquet. They had already agreed to attend. Notice the Gospel says, "He sent his servant at suppertime to tell those invited to come, for everything was ready." This was not a first invitation, but, as was the custom in those days, this was the third and final invitation. These people had already agreed to attend the banquet two times before. It was only a verbal dinner bell in a time and a place where people didn't have watches or clocks, nor did they have the precision of microwave and convection oven cooking. Even more than that, the custom of sending someone to tell the dinner guests that all was ready showed how much the host wanted the guests to come. And even more than that, to have been invited to such an event as a fine dinner was seen as an act of great friendship and a mark of the personal relationship between the host and his guests.

So now it's easier to see why the master became angry when his servant returned. These people, who he thought were his friends, are now telling him they have changed their minds and they won't be coming after all. Why are they not coming? Is it because of a death in the family and they are in mourning? Is it because they are very sick and too weak to travel? Is it because their house burned down and they have nowhere to live, or they have been attacked by a gang of thieves and robbed and beaten up? They don't refuse to attend the feast on account of some tragedy or sad circumstance. Quite the opposite: buying land, purchasing an expensive number of oxen, and being recently married are all positive events that show the good positions that the guests are in. One would think they'd be glad to share their good fortune with the host and celebrate with him their happy situations.

But think about their excuses. You can't come to the party you said you would attend because you have to check out the land you just bought? Will that land somehow change by tomorrow and that's why you can't wait, you have to see it today? Will something happen to your cattle and you must check them out today? Did you marry a 90 year old woman, and you're not sure how much longer she has to live and so you'd better make the most of it while she's still breathing? And he didn't know he was getting married when he was originally invited?

These guests, who should have been honored by being invited to this banquet, show what they think of their host. They are so much more concerned with their own property and their business that they brush off their host and their relationship with him so that they can focus on their own affairs. Many years ago I was surprised by the host's reaction: he grew angry. Well, you know, they can't come. Why be so angry? But I could not see it from the master's perspective. I never stopped to think much about the type of excuses that were given. I never realized what an insult it was to the master of the household to tell him, in effect, I would rather spend time with my oxen today than to sit at the table with you.

And, as the feast of Christmas is drawing closer, this parable again makes me think. That feast represents in a special way, the great feast I am called to every day. The invitation to sit at the banquet table with the Lord. To spend time in His presence, to listen to His words, to ask His help, to tell Him of my good news and my bad news, to thank Him for so many helps and blessings received, and, sitting in His presence, to grow closer to Him in heart, mind, and soul.

But how easy it is to skip that invitation to sit with Him, because I have good things to do, and people to see, and stuff needs taken care of; and I'm distracted by this thing because it's shiny, and that thing because it's new, and those things because they bring temporary pleasure, and these things, because they seem to ease the boredom I can feel in my life, a boredom and a tired feeling that comes not from a lack of activities but from a lack of liveliness in myself, in our selves.

It may not be a question of oxen or Jesus, land or Jesus, wife or Jesus, but we can find our own excuses for staying away and they seem good enough to us. "What if I go and Jesus serves liver? I don't like liver. What if I go and He sees my baptismal robe is pretty dirty and ragged from years of abuse? What if the dinner lasts past 8:00 and I miss the rerun of the "America’s Got Talent?" The distractions we can come up with to excuse ourselves are always there. But we forget that we are excusing ourselves from being with Jesus.

We can be too much involved in too many things, sometimes with good intentions, but not all these things need to be done. We get too busy with projects and material goods and with the troubles and issues that we let cloud our thoughts. We allow ourselves to be so busy with so many things we find it all too easy to neglect the Lord's invitation. And sometimes, even when we do accept it, we get so restless, distracted and even a little anxious to get back to the rest of our life. That happens because even though my faith tells me that the center and source of my life is sitting, for me, for my good, at the banquet table, I am always tempted to want to do what I think should be done, the things I have control over. I want to check my oxen and see the new land I bought. We can find it difficult to just to sit down and eat whatever the Lord puts on my plate, even if I believe it is only for my good.

The feast of the Nativity of Christ is a great spiritual banquet for those who come to the table prepared to enjoy what the Lord has to offer us. But if we spend the next 14 days distracted by everything and everyone else, we will not be prepared to meet the Master Who is inviting us to be with Him in a special way on the feast of His birth. Let us be sure that if we focus on our prayer, if we watch our thoughts, if we do some fasting and not allow people and planning and preparing and shopping and our troubling thoughts to distract us from the Lord, we will be very, very satisfied at the Lord’s table on December 25th.

Dear Lord, please give us the wisdom and the desire to want to sit with You at your banquet table before anything else. And help us see and understand what will truly satisfy our souls.