It seems to happen every time; just when everything is
prepared and the festival is about to begin, the guests start to call with
their excuses of why they cannot attend. “I have too much Christmas shopping to
finish.” “I have to cook the turkey.” “I have been so busy at work; I haven’t had
time to get everything finished at home.” “I’m not sure if I can make it.”
These are all ACTUAL excuses I have heard about why people are not in Church
the weeks that lead up to Christmas. It seems people will say ANYTHING to get
out of doing something they don’t really want to do. I even heard, “If I can’t
find anything else, I’ll be there,” once.
Jesus warned us about this problem. “A certain man gave a
great a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to
say to those who were invited, ‘Come for all the things are now ready.’ But
they all with one accord began to make excuses.” (Luke 14.16-18) Ultimately,
those who made excuses were left out of the banquet, but it wasn’t just any
ordinary banquet.
Jesus was talking about our entrance into heaven, and the
banquet is the Kingdom of God. We have all been invited and the Church is
calling us to let us know everything is ready. Will we answer the call and come
to Church for the banquet which is Divine Liturgy? Or will we continue with the
excuses and find ourselves left outside?
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