Invitation

 

The Spiritual Waiting Room

Invitation

Inclusion/Exclusion

Reject   Comply   Accept

God Will Supply All

Salvation

(Photo and poem by Kathy McNamara)

Scripture:  Philippians 4:19

My God will supply all that you need.

Reflection

Isn't it wonderful to get an invitation to a wedding feast?

Jesus talks about a wedding feast in The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 22, verses 1 to 14. At this feast many refused to go. They even killed the servants that were bringing the invitations!

Jesus is talking about how we respond to His invitation in this parable. Are we open to responding to His call to follow Him?

The invitation that Jesus gives is for All. Everyone is included and no one is excluded. Jesus wants all people to be at His Wedding Feast. 

He calls us to follow Him so that we can experience how much and how deeply He loves us. We have all had the experience of being left out. We feel sad when we learn that there is a party and all of our friends have been invited but we have been ignored. We wonder why we were excluded. Our feelings are hurt.

There can also be an issue when we give an invitation to a feast that we are having and people do not respond or turn down our invitation. Again our feelings are hurt.

Jesus came (and comes today!) to share Good News with us and to invite all of us to be part of the Kingdom of God. We are free to reject or accept that invitation. We might wonder if we have the courage to comply with the requirements of being part of the Kingdom.

We can respond by saying that we are not the brightest, or the most athletic, or the prettiest, or the most handsome one. We can feel that there are many other people who are more qualified to be part of the Kingdom.

Then we realize, as St. Paul shared in his Letter to the Philippians, that it is not about us and our "qualifications". It is all about God and the depth of the Love that God has for each person. God will supply all that we need.

The invitation that God gives us is an invitation that leads to salvation. This is why God sent Jesus to us. God wanted to give us a little glimpse of how deeply we are loved. 

The root meaning of salvation is health and well being. God wants to heal all those parts of us that are broken and wounded.

I remember a conversation that I had with a friend whose son had committed suicide. We spoke about the goodness in his son and how generous and caring he was. His suicide was a shock. I told him that there are some wounds that we cannot see and that God can only heal. 

Salvation is an invitation to healing.

It is God saying "I will Love you forever."

It is an invitation for all. 

How are you responding to your invitation?

1. How do you feel when you get an invitation to a great feast?

2. Has anyone ever excluded you from an invitation to a party?

3. What are some invitations that Jesus has given you lately?

4. Do you ever feel inadequate to respond to God's invitations?

5. What do you see in Kathy's photo?

(Scripture adaptation, reflection, and questions by John McNamara)