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.’
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Reflection:
What occurs in a dinner? There’s breaking
of the bread, there’s sharing, interaction, exchange of ideas and the like. We
are not invited to a dinner to simply eat and go. We are invited because the
host wants to know more about us. The host wants to bless us with the food that
he prepared. And he wants to exchange even for a brief moment small talk
that could further enhance and strengthen the relationship between the invited
guest and the host.
When we honor the Holy Mass with our
presence we respond to the invitation of Jesus to be present at this Sacred and
Holy celebration. We break bread with Jesus, we interact with Jesus and we open
ourselves to the innumerable blessings that Jesus alone could bestow upon us.
But like in the gospel many of us would
refuse to go to Holy Mass because we have our other preoccupations. We miss a
lot when we decline to be present at Holy Mass foremost of this is we miss the
great privilege to know Jesus deeply.
It’s sad to think that many Catholics
leave the church for other Christian churches. Because as they would say: “They
want to develop a personal relationship with Jesus through His written words in
the bible.”
But if only they would take time to
religiously be present at Holy Mass. Jesus Himself will give them the grace to
know Him deeply. Jesus Himself would prod them to open their bible so that He
could reveal more about Himself to them.
The deepening of our friendship with Jesus
emanates from our presence at His dinner banquet which is none other than the
Holy Mass. Let us therefore attend this sacred celebration and build a deeper
relationship with Jesus.
Do you always honor this invitation of
Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas