21 August 2025 – Thursday of the 20th week
Homily
Jesus often uses the image of a wedding banquet in the Gospel when he wants to reveal the mystery of salvation history.
Let us reflect a little on the meaning of this image. First of all, let us ask ourselves what distinguishes a banquet from an everyday meal.
The first difference is in the invitation. Indeed, one does not show up at a banquet without being invited. It is a festive meal to which a person freely invites those he or she wants. The guests are free to accept, but they are in a way compelled by the invitation to reveal whether or not they are true friends.
Furthermore, a banquet brings together several people. For a host or hostess, it is an art to choose the right guests. On the one hand, you must avoid seating people who don't get along at the same table. On the other hand, a banquet can also be an opportunity for reconciliation for people who have something to forgive each other. It can also be an opportunity to make new friends.
The third characteristic of a banquet is that it is not something that happens every day. There must be something or someone to celebrate: the occasion may be an arrival, a departure, a reunion after a long separation, an election, etc. It is always an opportunity to remember something that is of special importance to all those taking part.
Such a celebration requires a certain commitment from everyone. Indeed, you can no longer afford to be enemies after participating in a banquet together, even if you were enemies before.
A banquet also requires special food: something really good and prepared with love, which is a treat for the eyes and nose as well as the palate.
What we eat at a banquet is not simply to satisfy our hunger.
Finally, festive attire is required. A well-educated person does not go to a banquet in ‘jeans’.
Well! I think it is quite easy to apply all this to the Eucharistic banquet.
We are the guests of the Lord Jesus, who told us to gather around the table in memory of Him. This is something much more important and richer than simply being faithful to an obligation or observing a rule. It is an opportunity for us to show our love for the person who invites us, knowing that we are always invited.
The one who invited us has called us from all parts of the world to transform us into a community, a Church. We who are gathered here are that call—and our daily celebration—which, beyond all our differences of ideas, opinions and concerns, makes us a community.
We are gathered here this morning to celebrate something, or rather someone, together. We celebrate the Paschal mystery of our redemption in Christ. We want to keep alive the memory of the one who invited us, and listen again to his message.
We have special food, which is the body and blood of Christ, the sacrament of Jesus' love for us and of the love we want to have for one another.
We also have special clothing, because we were clothed with Christ on the day of our baptism; and without this clothing we could not celebrate the Eucharist.
All this requires a commitment on our part: a commitment to live the message we have received and to manifest in our lives today the bonds that have been re-established or strengthened; a commitment to pass on the invitation to everyone; and finally, a commitment to make it possible for everyone to participate in this banquet.
May the Lord grant us the grace to be faithful to these commitments.
Armand Veilleux
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We celebrate today the memorial of Saint Pius X.