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In the Gospel reading for today, St. Luke recounts Jesus’s parable of the Great Feast. A man has prepared a great dinner, many have been invited, and the time for the dinner has arrived. The man’s servant is sent to let the people know: the invitation is to come now, for everything is ready (Luke 14:17).
The anticipated guests, however, choose to decline the feast. They are caught up in their own obligations: a field, a yoke of oxen, a new bride. Interestingly, the man doesn’t reschedule his great dinner. Instead, he fills the forfeited places with a multitude of unexpected guests: the poor, the lame, the blind; and those from other places, the hedgerows and highways. He will have his home filled.
What greater act of hospitality is there than to invite another into one’s home and feed him? Yet hospitality extended is hospitality intended to be received in the present moment.
This invitation to come now is on offer for us too. Come now and feast on the Bread of Life in His Word. Come now and feast on the holy presence of the Lord through Eucharistic Adoration. Come now to the Supper of the Lamb and feast on the Living Bread which comes down from Heaven.
These are the great acts of hospitality which offer to feed our very souls. How often, though, do we decline the invitation to them because it interferes with our “more pressing” matters, because attending to it would create an inconvenience that disrupts the agenda of our day?
Perhaps when the temptation to make our own excuses arises, we can recall those timeless words of GK Chesterton: “An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered; an adventure is an inconvenience rightly considered.”
What greater adventure can there be than to feast today at the table with Our Lord?
En la lectura del Evangelio de hoy, San Lucas relata la parábola de Jesús sobre el gran banquete. Un hombre ha preparado una gran cena, ha invitado a muchos y ha llegado la hora de la comida. Se envía al criado para avisar a la gente: la invitación es para venir ahora, pues todo está listo (Lucas 14, 17).
Sin embargo, los invitados previstos deciden rechazar el banquete. Están absorbidos por sus propias obligaciones: un campo, una yunta de bueyes, una esposa recién casada. Curiosamente, el hombre no cambia la fecha de su gran cena. En su lugar, llena los sitios vacantes con una multitud de invitados inesperados: los pobres, los lisiados, los ciegos y aquellos que vienen de otros lugares, de los caminos y senderos. Él quiere ver su casa llena.
¿Qué mayor acto de hospitalidad existe que invitar a alguien a nuestra casa y ofrecerle alimento? Sin embargo, la hospitalidad que se ofrece es una hospitalidad destinada a ser recibida en el momento presente.
Esta invitación a venir ahora también se nos hace a nosotros. Ven ahora a nutrirte del Pan de Vida en Su Palabra. Ven ahora a nutrirte de la santa presencia del Señor a través de la Adoración Eucarística. Ven ahora a la Cena del Cordero a nutrirte del Pan Vivo que baja del Cielo.
Estos son los grandes actos de hospitalidad que ofrecen alimentar nuestras propias almas. ¿Con qué frecuencia, sin embargo, rechazamos la invitación porque interfiere con nuestros asuntos “más urgentes”, o porque atenderla supondría un inconveniente que altera la agenda de nuestro día?
Quizás, cuando surja la tentación de poner nuestras propias excusas, podamos recordar aquellas palabras intemporales de G.K. Chesterton: “Un inconveniente es solo una aventura mal considerada; una aventura es un inconveniente bien considerado”.
¿Qué mayor aventura puede haber que sentarse hoy a la mesa con Nuestro Señor?
Raine Pyne is a wife, a mother, and a longtime public school educator. She is a member of the Word on Fire Institute’s Writing Community, a student in the Theology of the Body Institute’s Certification program, and a graduate student with Word on Fire at Catholic University of America in the Master of Arts in Evangelization & Culture program. Raine has previously served as a parish catechist and women’s retreat leader. She is passionate about learning, language, and the ever deepening journey of faith.
Feature Image Credit: Lennon Caranzo, unsplash.com/photos/a-priest-is-lighting-a-candle-on-a-table-EhVlXSnL07w
The views and opinions expressed in the Inspiration Daily blog are solely those of the original authors and contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of Diocesan, the Diocesan staff, or other contributors to this blog.
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