Sunday, October 11, 2026 – Mt 22:1-10 – 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
God’s invitation is a gift. But accepting it means letting that gift change the way we live and the way we welcome others.
Isaiah gives us a beautiful vision: God prepares a feast for all peoples. It is a sign of the joy and communion God desires for humanity. On his mountain, God will destroy death, wipe away every tear, and take away the sorrow and shame of his people. The prophet’s vision invites us to hope: God is not preparing a table for a select few, but a feast for all.
Jesus takes up that image in the Gospel. A king prepares a wedding feast for his son and sends servants to invite the guests. But some refuse. They are absorbed in their own affairs; others mistreat the messengers. So the king sends the servants out again: “Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.” The invitation is extended widely, even to people who might never have expected to be welcomed. 3
This parable speaks first of God’s generosity and of the way his invitation reaches beyond those who initially receive it. But it also asks something of us. The guest without a wedding garment reminds us that simply being invited is not the same as being ready to live in God’s kingdom. We are called not only to enter the feast, but to let the grace of God shape our lives—to put on, so to speak, a way of living marked by faith, love, mercy, and charity.
That gives us two questions to reflect upon: How are you and I responding to Christ’s invitation? And whom might God be asking us to invite?
During my six years of seminary formation, I studied philosophy, theology, church doctrine, canon law, and the teachings of the Church. These things matter a lot. But some of the wisest priests who taught me also stressed something simple: begin by meeting people where they are. Jesus did just that. He met people in the middle of their real lives—not after they had everything figured out. We can do the same: listen, show genuine interest, make room for someone, and let an invitation grow from that encounter.
Inviting someone to faith does not mean pressuring them or pretending to have all the answers. It can be as simple as asking someone to come to Mass, sharing what faith means to you, or offering to accompany a person who is searching or struggling. The Church’s mission is to carry Christ’s invitation to everyone, and the Eucharist gives us a foretaste of the banquet toward which God is leading us.
We are so very blessed at Saint Peter’s where the faith is alive. This month we have several weddings and Baptisms. We have over 30 couples in marriage preparation. We have 47 adults in our OCIA Becoming Catholic class. And every weekend, we see new people with us in our pews, whether visitors to DC or residents of DC checking out our parish. It is a blessing.
But I also take a pause to reflect on who we do not see. We all have family, friends and other parishioners that no longer come to Mass. I want to challenge you and me, while it is wonderful being here with all the new members of our parish, visitors, or those discerning, we also need to go out and invite back members that have gone astray. As a parish community, to invite them back, and to pray for their return.
Let us not take our own invitation from God, the welcome from God, for granted. We come to this altar because Christ has called us; we leave strengthened to live as his disciples. May we receive the gift of faith with gratitude, allow it to transform us, to make us better people, and make our lives an open door through which others can encounter the welcome of God.
Today let us give thanks for the feast prepared for us—and then let us go out to invite others to the feast. Amen.