FaithICSICSSA15

=** November 4, 2014 **=

=** Luke 14:15-24 **=



**Gospel [|LK 14:15-24] **
One of those at table with Jesus said to him, “Blessed is the one who will dine in the Kingdom of God.” He replied to him, “A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many. When the time for the dinner came, he dispatched his servant to say to those invited, ‘Come, everything is now ready.’ But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves. The first said to him, ‘I have purchased a field and must go to examine it; I ask you, consider me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have purchased five yoke of oxen and am on my way to evaluate them; I ask you, consider me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have just married a woman, and therefore I cannot come.’ The servant went and reported this to his master. Then the master of the house in a rage commanded his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in here the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ The servant reported, ‘Sir, your orders have been carried out and still there is room.’ The master then ordered the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedgerows and make people come in that my home may be filled. For, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.’”

= = =Reflection=

In this passage, a man had put time and effort into creating a magnificent feast for his close friends. He sent out his servant to tell them that it was time to dine, one by one they slowly excused themselves from the dinner. Word was brought to the master of this occurrence and he was enraged. He told his servant to seek after those poor, crippled, lame and blind. His house was still not filled so he sent his servant to find those in the highways and the hedgerows until his home was filled. He then said tells his servant that none of those who were invited will taste his dinner.

God invited his people to come to his home, which is heaven. He has sent out for his people to come to his home and stay there with him. It is up to us whether or not we take his hand and grasp the opportunity to go to heaven and to be with him forever. Jesus is calling out for his people but we keep on making excuses not to go. You say you're going to church, but it is up to you whether or not you go that week. You make an excuse that you're tired and you have a lot of things to do that day. We are truly blessed to be able to go to church every week and be able to worship freely, yet we take it for granted. Are you going to make excuses to not be with God?  It is so simple to live our this passage in our lives. All we have to do is take God's hand. He is calling out for his people and we turn a blind eye and don't go to church or we don't pray everyday. We need to live out what God is telling us so that we can get into his kingdom. It's so simple to pray and to go to church, but we need to go beyond that. You need to put Jesus in your heart and live out his message so that we can so that we can not only be Catholic in name, but Catholic in our hearts and in our homes and in our families. We can show that we are his people by praying wholeheartedly and by going to church. We can also show this by passing this message on to our families. We can share our new-founded wisdom with those who mean the most to us so that one day God's children can be together again.  Let us take a moment of silence and pray together in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Oh holy and most gracious Lord, grant us the wisdom and the strength to follow you to heaven.  Let us be able to walk hand in hand together so that one day we may be able to go to our eternal home that you have laid up for us.  May we take hold of the opportunity you have given us and take your hand to hold. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. 

=Prayer=