Homily For Tuesday Thirty-First week in Ordinary Time Year B, 5th November 2024

 

Readings: Phil 2:5-11 , Ps.22 , Luke 14:15-24

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO THE INVITATION TO GOD'S HEAVENLY BANQUET

Invitations to events and social gatherings are part of humanity's social ways of life. As usual, Jesus often uses the things we are very familiar with to teach us a very important lesson. So, on the occasion of our Gospel passage today, Jesus tells us the parable of the great banquet, how a man planned a large banquet and sent out invitations, but those invited turned it down, so he opened the invitation to all who cared to come. Jesus ends the parable by saying that “not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet”

Here, their excuses for not coming to the banquet are not realistic. Because no one buys land without seeing it first, and the same can be said for buying oxen. And what, exactly, would keep a newly married couple from attending a social event? All the excuses in the parable show insincerity on the part of those invited. Hence the invitation is opened up to society’s maimed and downtrodden. The fact is that those who ignored the invitation to the banquet chose their path. They missed out and the master respects their choice by making it permanent: they would not “taste of my banquet”, he said.

So it will be with God’s judgment on those who choose to reject Christ or are too busy to respond to his invitation. They will have their choice confirmed, and they will never taste the joys of heaven. Therefore, let us learn to honour the invitation of God in humility, just like Christ Jesus whose state was divine, yet he did not cling to his equality with God but emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave, and became as men are; and being as all men are, he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross as we heard in our second reading today.

Dear friends, the Lord offers us again an invitation to the banquet of heaven. An invitation is God's free act of kindness, as He wishes to dine with us. No one deserves it anyway, and He is not obliged to invite us nor are we compared to honour his invitation. Hence in the parable, those who think that they deserve to be invited are too busy to enter the banquet hall. But the poor in spirit and the humble who know that the love God has for them is completely gratuitous accepted his invitation with joy.

Thus, today we are called not to be too busy to come to our heavenly banquet. For God’s banquet is his Church, good and bad, saints and sinners are invited, for the Church is made up of saints and sinners. The bad are expected to become good while sinners are expected to repent and put on a new garment of holiness and love like the saints. Let us not be too proud or busy to embrace it for the blessings of the kingdom are available to all who will come to Christ by faith.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, we are too busy with the things of this passing world; as we hear about the invitation to your Heavenly Kingdom today, may we embrace it with all humility through Christ, your Son who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen. Have a blessed day.