PARABLE OF THE GREAT FEAST

When one of the men sitting at the table heard this; he said to Jesus, “How happy are those who will sit down at the feast in the Kingdom of God.”  Jesus said to him, “There was once a man who was giving a great feast to which he invited many.  When it was time for the feast, he sent servant to tell his guests, ‘Come, everything is ready!’  But they all began one after another to make excuses.  The first one told the servant, ‘I have bought a field and must go and look at it; please accept my apologies.’  Another one said, ‘I have bought five pairs of oxen and I am on my way to try them out; please accept my apologies.’  Another one said, ‘I just got married, and for that reason I cannot come.’

“The servant went back and told all this to his master.  The master was furious and said to his servant, ‘Hurry out to the streets and alleys of the town, and bring back the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’  Soon the servant said, ‘Your order has been carried out, sir, but there is room for more.’  So the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the country roads and lanes and make people come in, so that my house will be full.  I tell you all that none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner!’”

(Luke 14:15 – 24)

This is the Word of God

Thanks be to the Lord

Parable of the rich fool

Part ii

The Holy Bible says “…….Because I live, you also will live. (John 14:19)

For earlier part click here

Again the Holy Bible mentions, “Give generously to anyone who faithfully obeys God. If you are stingy in giving to the poor, God will be stingy in giving to you. Give according to what you have. The more you have, the more you should give. Even if you have only little, be sure to give something. This is as good as money saved. You will have your reward in a time of trouble. Taking care of the poor is a kind of offering that pleases God in Heaven. Do this, and you will be kept safe from the dark world of the dead.” (Tobit 4:8-11)

It is sheer foolishness to dream about our future life and the many pleasures that life has to offer.

 Jesus the Origin of Life, teaches us to question our self, “Suppose tonight you have to give back your life to God, who is going to enjoy all this.?

Never consider this perishable world and its fleeting pleasures as your life.  Run away from all the greed, boasting, influences, addictions and everything that enslaves you and keeps you away from the Word and Will of God.

The letter of St. James wonderfully describes and warns us against ‘boasting’.  “You don’t even know what your life tomorrow will be!  You are like a puff of smoke, which appears for a moment and disappears. What you should say is this : “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this and that.”  But now you are proud, and you boast; all such boasting is wrong.”  (Jam 4 : 14 -16)

Finally, the parable sums up teaching that it is not his richness in wealth that defines a man, but his loving acts of kindness towards mankind that makes him a true human. Our prime purpose of life is to live in God’s love and a life in union with Him to serve Him. 

The Holy Bible says (Mt 16 : 26) – “Will a person gain anything if he wins the whole world, but loses his life.  Of course not there is nothing he can give to regain his life.”

Lord Jesus concluded that life is more important than everything and also your body.  So your Heavenly Father knows that you need all those things. Be concerned with His Kingdom and He will provide  His blessings to each one accordingly.

A person who gets rich without sinfully chasing after his money, is fortunate and he deserves his wealth and everyone will praise him for his generosity.

If you need to focus on the Lord and His Will your heart is to be filled with His promises. When your heart is full of His promises, it will certainly be blessed with His joy and hope which can lead you to peace.

Prayer :   Gracious Father, thank You for the insight You gave through this parable.  May You be my greatest Richness throughout my life. You have said “ your heart will always be where your riches are”   The richness that I gathered without even offering alms, ignoring the needy ones who stand in front of me, has made me restless and sleepless.  Give me the alertness to realize that death is always knocking at my door.  Grant me, I pray, a generous heart to move towards the needy ones, even if they are my enemies, so that I can open an account in Your Bank where there is no fear of thief or moth.  In every decision give me the grace to seek Your Will and accept it – be it loss or gain.  Let our children also adopt these virtues.  This we pray in, Lord Jesus’ Name. Amen.