10.10.2020 Homily

The teaching of this parable is about being called, being invited, being welcomed. And what Jesus says is the kingdom of God is like a king who welcomes people into the feast; who calls them into the feast. Now the call is very important, but just as important is the response to the call, saying yes. 
We're told in the gospel today that people had excuses. One had to go to the farm and another one had to go and do business. St. Luke tells the whole story and St. Luke fleshes it out a little bit. He says, one person said, “ I have bought a farm and now I must go and see it.” Another one says, “I have bought five yoke of oxen and I must go and try them out.” Another one says, “I have been married and I must stay at home.”
Now those are not flimsy excuses. Those three excuses would excuse a person from military service. If a person had to tend to his property, if a person had to tend to his livestock, and for the first year after marriage no one was called into military service. But we're talking about very serious things that these people are saying, “I can't come to the wedding because I've got to do this.” Now the secret is that Jesus wanted them to understand that the invitation sometimes calls us to put something aside that is very important for us, or that we think is very important.
Most of us don't ever say no to the invitation. Most of us say, well, just wait a minute. Most of us don't walk away, we just procrastinate. Most of us, if we're not going to accept the invitation immediately, we've got something else on our mind or something else on our plate. And we want to get that done first. And then we can answer the call. The fact is that Jesus always asks a little bit more than you and I are intending to give. What He's doing is He's asking for everything. He's saying you're invited into the kingdom, but the kingdom must come first. The response must come first.
And if I say no, or if I put it off and I do it again and again, and again, I become more and more deaf to the invitation. Sixty years ago an Italian film, La Dolce Vita appeared--one of Fellini's films. It really is the story of God's invitation. The invitation that Jesus speaks about being made again, and again, and again. The figure is a journalist, a person who has got some reputation in the city of Rome as a journalist. Marcello Mastroianni played that role. Well, the story starts with a helicopter carrying this huge gigantic statue of Christ over the city of Rome. And it's Fellini's way of saying, now the star of this movie is Jesus Christ. The protagonist is Jesus Christ. All the work is going to come from Jesus Christ. 
And then what happens is over seven days, we see this man's life and we see the invitation to grace that he rejects at one point. And then the following day, there's another invitation to grace. And what we learn is that over a period of time, he becomes less and less attuned, less and less open, less and less sensitive to the invitation. The invitation never stops. The Lord continues to call. He continues to invite. In the last scene, this gentleman is on the shore of the Mediterranean. And what litters the seashore is dead fish.
The man's soul was dead. He had closed his ears. He chose not to live. 
Well that's the message that Jesus is giving to whom? He's speaking to the chief priests and the elders of the people. He's saying, "I am inviting you. Come to the feast. Don't give me excuses." 
Well, you and I are invited to come to the table. We're invited to do that week after week after week. And the Lord wants us to be there, and He wants us to open our hearts to receive the good that He has to offer. And so, just as the king said to his servants, go and tell them everything is prepared. Come to the feast. He says that to you and to me. “Everything is ready. Now come to the feast.”