Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection for - Sunday, October 11, 2026

In this week’s Gospel, Jesus tells the parable of the king who threw a wedding feast for his son, but those who were invited refused to come. We might be thinking, “Who would ever reject the generous invitation of the king?” Well, WE WOULD. This parable is about US and our response to the one, true, King.

However, many of us don’t see ourselves in the parable. We think that it is about the Jews were invited to follow Jesus, but they refused to do so. But, that’s not us - we heard the Gospel and accepted Jesus. We are happy that the king invites EVERYONE – both the good and the bad. We WANT to go to the wedding feast of the Lamb. Therefore, we like this story…right up until the end.

By the way, in that time and place, the king would have given a wedding garment to everyone who attended the wedding. No need to run out to Nordstrom for a new outfit. That’s why the king is so upset with the guy who decides not to wear the provided clothing. In other words, if you choose to attend the event, cooperate with the norms of the event. At this point, many of us are saying, “But wait, the guy came in off the street, he wasn’t planning to go to a wedding, he was actually doing the king a favor by showing up.” True, but his decision to attend the wedding also meant that he would follow the rules.

God has invited us to the great supper of the Lamb in the Kingdom of Heaven. It’s an open invitation which we choose to accept or not. The problem is that, like the man who refused the wedding garment, we want to accept the invitation, but we reject God’s grace. However, going to the feast requires us to cooperate with the King by accepting His grace and putting on His garment – His complete gift of grace which He pours down on all of us. We must reject our own wardrobe of distractions and bad choices that separate us from God. God gives us everything we need to join Him in the Kingdom. It is up to us to accept his gift and be properly disposed to attend the eternal feast.

Fr. Mike