One of the most important lessons from the Gospels is the parable of the Great Feast, (Luke 14: 16-24) in which a certain man was preparing a banquet for his invited guests. He instructs his servant to go out and tell the guests to come for everything has been prepared; however, after so doing, the servant told him of all the excuses he had heard and received saying I did as you instructed but there is still room.
Upon hearing this the host told the servant to then go out to the roads and the country lanes and compel them to come so that my house will be full. The host then said, “I tell you that not one of those that were invited will get a taste of my banquet.”
This is an exhortation by Jesus to all of creation to know that each and every one of us is equally invited to the Lord’s Banquet that He has prepared for all of us. Often, however, just as those guests from the Parable, many who are invited to The Lord’s Banquet are filled with excuse after excuse and are too preoccupied with everything else but the Church.
Yes, nominally many proclaim their belief in God, but neglect the importance of their attendance at His glorious banquet, the Holy Liturgy. As we are quickly approaching the Feast of the Nativity of Christ in the flesh, it is imperative that we heed the invitation that Christ has extended to all of us His children.
So let us recall the admonition of the host, once again in this parable and listen to his words, “I tell you that not one of those that were invited will get a taste of my banquet.”
May we heed the Lord’s invitation that He freely bestows upon us, His children, and come to Church and taste of His banquet!
