Come to the Feast

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

October 11, 2026

📖 LITURGICAL READINGS
First Reading	Isaiah 25:6-10a
Responsorial Psalm	Psalm 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
Second Reading	Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20
Gospel	Matthew 22:1-14

🌱 Reflection

Author: Rev. Fr. Reginaldo V. Lavilla, MSP

Many of us take great delight in celebrations, and we feel honoured and privileged when invited. Most of the time, our invitations go only to those we know—our relatives, friends, and people close to us. This Sunday’s readings extend our thoughts beyond these familiar gatherings to the banquet God is offering to everyone, the banquet of eternal life. The drama we find in the Gospel parable (Matthew 22:1-14) is perhaps not surprising, as we find people rejecting God even when he generously offers this banquet of eternal bliss, harmony, justice, love, and joy. No one is forced. God gives us freedom; hence, he does not coerce us. Yet everyone is remembered, each one is a recipient of the invitation, and all are welcome. He simply invites us, and we need to freely respond.

Jesus’ parable of the wedding feast reveals not only what we anticipate in the future but also the reality of our response to God’s invitation at present. He is not simply talking about an earthly wedding banquet. He is pointing us to the truth of the Kingdom of God. We discover in the story a seemingly absurd reaction from the invited guests, and we wonder why anyone would respond negatively to an invitation that promises delight and happiness. Indeed, it is not always easy to see the logic of Jesus’ invitation when we are distracted by worldly affairs and when we care less about life in eternity. We can become so preoccupied with what is before us that we forget what ultimately awaits us. And so, Jesus again and again challenges his listeners to “come and see.”

We have a beautiful image of a banquet in the first reading (Isaiah 25:6-10), with God providing the choicest blessings, described through the image of an earthly meal: “a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines.” This ultimately anticipates the heavenly banquet, when “he will destroy the veil that veils all peoples, the web that is woven over all nations; he will destroy death forever. The Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces…” We already have a glimpse of this truth whenever we have a deep encounter with God, who lavishly loves and accepts us, who gives us peace in our struggles and joy even amid the difficulties of life.

The Holy Eucharist is a banquet, a sacred meal, instituted by Jesus at the Last Supper. The table—the altar—is not prepared with material food that perishes but with the “bread from heaven,” the Bread of Life. Jesus invites us to eat his Body and drink his Blood. Every Eucharist, therefore, gives us a glimpse and foretaste of the eternal banquet of heaven. “By the Eucharistic celebration we already unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy and anticipate eternal life, when God will be all in all” (CCC 1326). The invitation of Jesus in the parable also reminds us that it is not enough simply to go to the wedding banquet; we must also be “properly dressed.” In receiving the Holy Eucharist, we are likewise invited to prepare ourselves spiritually by repenting of our sins and, when conscious of grave sin, to receive first the Sacrament of Reconciliation before receiving Holy Communion. God has prepared the banquet and continues to extend his invitation.

Finally, may we hear in our hearts his invitation and freely respond: Come to the feast.