All are welcome at the Eucharist, the banquet of the Lord. Dean reflects on today’s readings from Mass.
Readings for Thursday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time can be found here
How many times have we planned a church event and been disappointed by the numbers attending? How many Sundays have there been, when we’ve looked at the gathered congregation and wondered where everyone is? We can come up with explanations. There could be road closures, people on holidays, bad weather and so many other reasons. But it still leaves us disappointed.
How must the king feel in the parable of Jesus— that so few people have arrived to celebrate the wedding of his son? Many VIPs would have been invited but none of them bothered—for an array of reasons. But the king refuses to be disheartened. He opens the banquet to any and all, until the banquet hall is full. How must those ‘ordinary’ people have felt to find themselves in such a place of splendour? How must others have viewed the banquet now that all kinds of people were feasting in the palace.
Each Sunday, the doors of our churches are opened for the celebration of the Eucharist, the banquet of Jesus. It is an open invitation, and yet on so many occasions so many people decide not to come. Some may indeed have some very good reasons for not being able to accept the invitation. Others may simply not be interested or will have found something more beguiling. Whatever the reasons, the doors remain open. The invitation is the same. Jesus calls us to his banquet. And when we come, we may sometimes be surprised by who we are sharing the table with—for all are welcome, each one as valued as the other.
Mass today is in St Dyfrig and St Samson at 10am
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