The Invitation
Tuesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
My dear encountered couples:
Excuses! Excuses! We could all fill up a book with excuses we make for not doing things. And I am not referring to the not doing of really unimportant things, but not doing the important. I am too busy to visit sick Aunt Tulle, phone lonely old Harry, talk to the neighbor’s little boy. I don’t have time to have lunch with Mollie, ride Sarah to the grocery, nor even to sit and listen to my own children. Let someone else pet the dog and feed the birds. Duty calls and I must get things done.
And the tricky part is that we all do have duties to carry out, responsibilities that only we can fulfill. But we have to learn what has priority. And when it comes down to the nitty-gritty of God’s will, the good of people has priority over everything - with God’s other living creatures coming next. And it is in the way we treat people and share our time with them that is the giving of our answer to God’s invitation to the banquet in heaven. Yes, we want to be seated at his table. But that will only take place if we enter his dining room through the doors of concern for others.
Listen to yourself when you make excuses that keep you from those who need you. Are they valid? Or are they lame - because you want out anyhow? Remember what the master of the house, God, says, “I want my house to be full, but I tell you that not one of those invited shall taste a morsel of my dinner.” There’s a dining room chair reserved for you.
