In today’s passage of the Holy Gospel, we hear yet another parable (story with a message). I think that when you read it or hear it, you might say, “Hey, that has happened to me!” Do you remember the time you decided to have a party, invited all the people who were most important to you, prepared all your favorite recipes…AND THEN…one by one, the invitees called to say they couldn’t make it? Your first thought probably was, “Oh, something better came up?” What a frustrating and disappointing experience. Compare your experience to the readings in this weekend’s liturgy. Food is used in all three readings today as an image of God’s presence among His people. In the Gospel, Jesus really describes the “banquet of heaven” in the parable. When the banquet is rejected by the chosen guests, it is offered to all peoples. All of the readings suggest that God loves us as His people and provides for our eternal salvation. He doesn’t, however, force this invitation on anyone. Today’s scripture readings are clear in that they give us the strong warning that, if we do not accept His love, if we reject His gifts, then there will be no place for us at the “eternal banquet.” That thought of there not being a place for me in heaven is sobering and a wake-up call! Whoa! So what do we have to do to make sure that when our time comes to meet the Lord, our place will be all set at this banquet table? When we received the sacrament of baptism, our invitation was sent to us! We were provided with “food for the journey” in the way of grace as we live our day to day lives. Jesus, our “Amazing Grace,” has promised to accompany us on this journey of life. He has provided the road maps and directions. But the same obstacles which prevented the Pharisees from “finding their way”---pride, being judgmental, lacking in compassion---can impede us too. So, if we want to make ready our place in heaven, then we must eliminate our selfish tendencies and offer ourselves in love and service to Jesus and to his people. This is the bottom line…following the way of Jesus! So, let us pray that we may keep focused on our Christian commitment and that we may become disciples who really practice the way of Jesus, rather than remaining mere Sunday Catholics. Let us pray for a deeper faith and love and a better spirit of responsibility to our community. At a church conference in Omaha, people were given helium-filled balloons and told to release them at some point in the service when they felt joy in their hearts. All through the service worshippers kept releasing balloons. At the end of the service it was discovered that most of them still had their balloons unreleased. If this experiment were repeated in our church today, how many of us would still have our balloons unreleased at the end of the service? Many of us think of God's house as a place for seriousness, a place to close one's eyes and pray, but not a place of celebration, a place where we can rejoice. The parable of the Great Supper in today's Holy Gospel paints a different picture. The Christian assembly is a gathering of those who are called to the Lord's party. In the Eucharist we say of ourselves, "Happy are those who are called to His supper." The Lord invites us to a supper, a banquet, a feast. Can you imagine a wedding feast (or Mass!) in which everyone sits stone-faced, cold and quiet? GOSPEL QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Do you let your heart be happy as you participate in the banquet of the Eucharist?