📅 11 October 2026  |  👤  Fr Lenoy Jose  SJ

In today’s Gospel, Jesus compares the Kingdom of Heaven to a wedding feast. A king prepares a grand banquet, but the invited guests refuse to come. So the king sends his servants out to the streets and gathers everyone they can find, good and bad alike, and the hall is filled. Yet, among them, one is found not wearing a wedding garment, and he is cast out.

This parable is a stark warning for us, especially in our times.

I see a strong parallel between those first invited guests and many of us who are Catholics by birth. We received this invitation by default, as a precious inheritance passed down through generations. But often, we become lukewarm. We find it inconvenient to come to the Eucharist, to pray together as a family, to live the demanding values of Christ.

It requires sacrifice to be faithful today. We are eager to celebrate Easter Sunday, but we are reluctant to walk the way of Calvary. It is easy to compromise on our values, to skip prayer, to miss Mass, because these things feel like an inconvenience. Like the guests in the parable, we offer excuses. We fail to realise what we are missing — what a treasure, what wealth of faith has been handed to us.

Then there is the second group — those who were never on the original guest list, those on the highways and byways. They were not expected, yet they came with joy and treasured the invitation. I see this lived out in many of our newly baptised brothers and sisters. Their faith is firm, even in the face of great hardship. They truly live the values of Christ.

The example that comes to my mind is that of Kandhamal in Odisha. Their churches were destroyed, their homes burnt, their loved ones killed and yet, not one of them renounced the faith. Their witness should shake us — we who often take this priceless gift for granted. Their fidelity should awaken us, lukewarm Catholics, to give this invitation the seriousness it deserves.

Finally, there is the man without the wedding garment. He said ‘yes’ to the invitation, came but without right preparation. This speaks of those who accept the faith for the wrong reasons — perhaps for admission into a Catholic school, for a job, for aid or advantage. They are present in body, but not clothed in Christ. When the Master comes to meet His guests, they will be found unworthy, for they lack true conversion of heart.

My dear brothers and sisters, let this Gospel awaken us. Let us  understand the preciousness of our call to be Catholic. Let us not get distracted by peripheral matters, but return to the heart of it all — the great commandment of love. To love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind.

And let that love be visible in our lives — in how we care for His creation, for one another, for nature, for Mother Earth and all its beings.

May we so live that when the Host comes through the banquet hall, He may find us worthy to remain and rejoice in His wedding feast.

Amen.