‘Come, everything is now ready.’
But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves.

luke 14:17-18

Luke 14:15-24

Reflection

Jesus tells a story about a man who prepares a great dinner. When it is ready, his servants go out to tell the guests, but each one gives excuses why they cannot come. The man becomes angry and tells his servant to gather the poor, crippled, blind, and lame to come to the dinner instead.

We are invited to ‘dine’ with our Lord, to take part in the great banquet feast of heaven, but will we accept Christ’s invitation? Like the people who declined the invitation to dinner, we often give sorry excuses for not following Jesus’ call in our own lives.

We come up with innocuous things to do instead of pray, attend Mass, or read the Bible. When we are prompted by the Holy Spirit, we sometimes ignore him or push it off until later. Jesus invites you personally – he wants you to be with him, wants you to discover his love for you. We can’t do that if we give excuses and keep ourselves separate from God. How can you answer Jesus’ daily invitation?

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Saint of the Day

St. Charles Borromeo: 1538 – 1584

“Prayer is the beginning, the progress and the complement of all virtues.” St. Charles Borromeo