Week of June 14, 2026

My Sisters and Brothers in Jesus Christ,

The older I get, the more I understand the temptation to stay home. After work, chores, responsibilities, and the ordinary demands of life, sometimes another invitation feels like too much. That is why this Sunday’s Gospel speaks so clearly. Jesus tells of a great banquet where the invited guests begin making excuses. Their reasons do not sound wicked. They sound ordinary: property, work, family, and responsibility. Yet this is the uncomfortable warning of the parable. We do not always reject God through open rebellion. Sometimes we simply become too busy, too tired, too distracted, or too comfortable to respond when grace invites us deeper.

The good news is that the banquet is not canceled. The master sends his servant into the streets, lanes, roads, and hedges to bring in the poor, the wounded, the forgotten, and those others may not have thought worthy of a place at the table. This is the generous mercy of God. Every Eucharist is a foretaste of that heavenly banquet. Christ prepares the table and invites the tired, the sinful, the lonely, the hungry, and the distracted to come.
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This week, may we hear again the words of the Gospel: “Come; for all is now ready.” The question is not whether Christ is inviting us. He is. The question is whether we will enter, or whether we will keep making excuses. May we have the grace to accept the invitation, take our place at the table, and allow the mercy of God to reshape our lives.
Peace,
Rev. Ben