In recent years, my attitude toward cooking has changed. Instead of a nightly chore, it has become an act of love, a gift I offer to my family. I consider what they like to eat, what time they will be home and if they might like to include a friend. I set the table and time my special meal to make sure it’s hot when they all gather.
But what if these people I love so much didn’t show up? What if they ignored the care I put into this meal, the special ingredients, the love and prayer I offered as I stirred the pot, the special tablecloth I put out to show them how much I love them? What if they didn’t bother to come to dinner? What if they were just too busy?
I think that is what Jesus must have been feeling as he told the disciples the parable of the king who gave the wedding feast. The king’s special invited guests refused to come, begging off with excuses of being busy with work. Others just ignored the invitation. Angered, the king sent his servants to scour the countryside and invite everyone they met, good and bad. He packed his banquet hall for the wedding and asked everyone to celebrate with him. When one guest refused to dress properly for the wedding, the king ordered him bound and tossed out into the dark alley.
Maybe Jesus is trying to show us that he is inviting us to a lavish banquet, one prepared with love and care for each one of us. How do we respond? Are we too busy with work or even family, to pray and talk to God? Do we show up at Church each week impatiently, hoping only for a quick homily and a fast service? Do we spend more time watching TV or sitting in front of a computer than we do talking to Jesus? Are we so caught up in gazing at ourselves as we dress for this dinner of love that we never even leave the house? I think Jesus is inviting us into a deep caring, a two-way relationship that asks us to give of ourselves, care passionately about our relationship with God and to dine with great joy at the banquet he has set for us.
Help us, Jesus. So often we ignore your invitation. “I’m busy,” we cry. “My kids want something from me. I’ve got so much going on at work right now. My spouse needs me now. Later. promise.” Oh, Jesus, let us see how your love for us is part of a daily relationship of caring, and trusting in you.
Perhaps we are sometimes like the guest left out in the darkness, wailing and gnashing our teeth, blind to the fact that you stand next to us in the darkness, waiting to lead us back to the meal, if only we will ask.
Maureen McCann Waldron
The most important part of my life is my family – Jim my husband of 47 years and our two children. Our daughter Katy, a banker here in Omaha, and her husband John, have three wonderful children: Charlotte, Daniel and Elizabeth Grace. Our son Jack and his wife, Ellie, have added to our joy with their sons, Peter and Joseph.
I think family life is an incredible way to find God, even in (or maybe I should say, especially in) the most frustrating or mundane moments.
I am a native of the East Coast after graduating in 1971 from Archbishop John Carroll High School in suburban Philadelphia. I graduated from Creighton University in 1975 with a degree in Journalism and spent most of the next 20 years in corporate public relations in Omaha. I returned to Creighton in the 1990s and completed a master’s degree in Christian Spirituality in 1998.
As our children were growing up, my favorite times were always family dinners at home when the four of us would talk about our days. But now that our kids are gone from home, my husband and I have rediscovered how nice it is to have a quiet dinner together. I also have a special place in my heart for family vacations when the kids were little and four of us were away from home together. It’s a joy to be with my growing family.
Writing a Daily Reflection is always a graced moment, because only with God’s help could I ever write one. I know my own life is hectic, disjointed and imperfect and I know most of us have lives like that. I usually write from that point of view and I always seem to find some sentence, some word in the readings that speaks right to me, in all of my imperfection. I hope that whatever I write is in some way supportive of others.
It’s an incredibly humbling experience to hear from someone who was touched by something I wrote. Whether the note is from someone across campus or across the world, it makes me realize how connected we are all in our longing to grow closer to God.
